Since Michigan went to the National Championship in 2013 under former head coach John Beilein, no Big Ten program has had more NBA draft picks than the Wolverines.
U-M has accumulated eight during that span, while only one other program in the entire conference has racked up more than five (Michigan State with seven).
There is a decent chance the Maize and Blue will add to their total tomorrow night during the 2019 NBA draft, with freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis, redshirt junior guard Charles Matthews and sophomore guard Jordan Poole all hoping to hear their names called.
While it's unlikely that all three will be selected, odds are that at least one of them (and perhaps two) will undoubtedly be chosen during the annual 60-pick event.
Nine Big Ten schools have seen at least one of their players come off the board since 2013, with Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Rutgers being the lone exceptions.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Michigan's eight draft selections, however, is that seven of them have been first-rounders, with small forward Glenn Robinson in 2014 being the lone Wolverine who hasn't been (he went No. 40 overall).
The next-closest conference member is Michigan State, who has had five first-round selections during the aforementioned span.
While it seems unlikely that U-M will add to its first-round total tomorrow night (Brazdeikis, Matthews and Poole are all projected to go in either the second round or not at all), it's not out of the realm of possibility that either Brazdeikis or Poole sneaks into the draft's opening frame.
Power forward D.J. Wilson is the best past example of this occurrence, as his No. 17 overall selection in 2017 was substantially higher than anybody thought he'd go.
Shooting guard Caris LeVert also followed that same script in 2016 when he went No. 20 overall, while some could make the argument that centers Mitch McGary (in 2014) and Moe Wagner (in 2018) did as well, depending on which projections one was following beforehand.
Regardless of what happens tomorrow night, Michigan will likely continue leading the Big Ten in total picks since 2013, with MSU not expected to have enough selections to overtake the Wolverines.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
