The University of Michigan is arguably known more as a football powerhouse than a basketball factory, but it has had plenty of success on the hardwood. Its men's basketball team has been in the NCAA Tournament 33 times and won two national championships, including the NCAA title it captured last season.
It is the school that brought the world the "Fab Five" teams of the early 1990s that included Jalen Rose, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. In all, 81 Wolverines players have been drafted into the NBA, including active players such as Moussa Diabaté, Tim Hardaway Jr., Caris LeVert, Jordan Poole and Franz Wagner.
Here is a look at the eight University of Michigan players who have been drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bob Harrison -- guard
Harrison played two years with
the Wolverines before the Lakers took him in the second round of the 1949 draft. He spent his first four and a half seasons in the NBA with the Lakers, and nine years overall, and he won three championships while playing alongside George Mikan.
For his career, Harrison averaged 7.2 points and 2.7 assists a game and made the All-Star team in 1956 as a member of the St. Louis Hawks.
Leo VanderKuy -- center
VanderKuy averaged 11.4 points a game in three years at the University of Michigan. After the Lakers took him in the fifth round of the 1951 draft, he never played in the NBA.
C.J. Kupec -- forward
Kupec played three seasons at the University of Michigan and averaged 12.7 points and eight rebounds a game there. After the Lakers took him in the fourth round of the 1975 draft, he played his first two NBA seasons with the Lakers and one more with the Houston Rockets.
For his NBA career, Kupec posted 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.8 minutes a game.
Wayman Britt -- guard
A fourth-round choice by the Lakers in the 1976 draft, Britt played one season in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons and registered 1.3 points in 2.3 minutes a game with them. He had averaged 10.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in four seasons with the Wolverines.
John Robinson -- forward
Robinson put up 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds a game during his four years at the University of Michigan. The Lakers selected him in the fifth round of the 1977 draft, but he didn't play in the NBA.
Mike McGee -- guard
McGee was a star for the Wolverines, averaging 21.4 points a game in three years with them and earning All-Big Ten honors twice. The Lakers took him with the No. 19 pick in the 1981 draft, just ahead of Larry Nance Sr. a power forward who went on to make three All-Star teams and three All-Defensive teams.
He started to earn meaningful playing time in his third pro season, and, at times, he supplied Los Angeles with instant offense off the bench. He averaged 9.6 points in 17.8 minutes a game across nine total NBA seasons, and while in L.A., he put up 8.2 points in 15 minutes a contest.
Darius Morris -- guard
In the last of his two years at the University of Michigan, Morris put up 15 points and 6.7 assists per game before being taken in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Lakers. He spent his first two pro seasons with the Lakers, averaging 3.6 points and 1.4 assists in 12.7 minutes a game, and through his four NBA seasons, he registered 3.3 points and 1.4 assists a game.
Moritz Wagner -- power forward/center
Wagner played three years with the Wolverines and peaked at 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds a game as a junior. As the No. 25 pick in the 2018 draft, he averaged 4.8 points and two rebounds in 10.4 minutes a game as a rookie with the Lakers.
He was sent out in the summer of 2019 as part of the trade that brought Los Angeles Anthony Davis. So far, Wagner has career averages of nine points and 3.9 rebounds in 16.2 minutes a game, and he's currently a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Every University of Michigan player drafted by the Lakers
