Michigan Wolverines basketball has a trio of players that are racking up preseason accolades, including sophomore center Hunter Dickinson, a 2020-21 second-team All-American, freshman wing Caleb Houstan and fifth-year senior guard DeVante' Jones.

Dickinson and Houstan were both named to the preseason All-Big Ten team, a list of 10 players, with Dickinson checking in as a unanimous selection.

The Big Ten Freshman of the Year as well as an All-Big Ten first team member last season, Dickinson led the Wolverines in scoring (14.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg), while guiding U-M to its 15th Big Ten championship and fourth NCAA Elite Eight appearance in the past decade.

Houstan was the first Michigan freshman to earn a spot on the preseason team, and he was the lone newcomer on the 10-member squad this year and the first since Indiana's Romeo Langford in 2018-19 and the second all-time after Ohio State's Greg Oden (2006-07) was the first to earn the accolade.

Additionally, CBSSports.com ranked Dickinson as the 10th-best player in college basketball entering the season, while Jones, a Coastal Carolina transfer, slotted 74th and Houstan checked in at 81st.

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"Take a look at our top 10 and you'll see how it's overly populated with big men," the site's Matt Norlander wrote, pointing out that Dickinson was the seventh big man to be listed. "This is going to be the season of the big, and Dickinson (14.1 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game, 60.7 two-point percent) will be a major factor in that narrative nationally and in the best conference, the Big Ten. Michigan has a lot of new pieces, but it's Dickinson's presence and decision to return for a sophomore campaign that makes the Wolverines a preseason national title contender."

Norlander is high on Jones' game, but he noted that his move from the Sun Belt to the Maize and Blue has helped him get on the radar more.

"Last season's Sun Belt Player of the Year is one of the best snuff-it-out guards in the sport," he wrote. "Jones averaged 19.3 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game and 2.8 steals per game for Coastal Carolina (18-8). It's a fair question to ask: If Jones was still in a Chanticleers uniform, would he make this list? I'm not sure about that, and it speaks more to how power-conference players get the benefit of the doubt much more often than stat compilers in one-bid leagues.

"The buzz out of Ann Arbor now, though, is that this senior will be ready for the up-transfer adjustment."

Houstan is one of 10 freshmen to make the cut in the list of 101 players.

"Houstan reclassified to 2021 in July 2020 so that he could enroll at Michigan early," Gary Parrish wrote. "The McDonald's All-American is projected by most to be a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He started on a high school team two seasons ago at Montverde Academy in Florida alongside three lottery picks in the 2021 NBA Draft — Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes and Moses Moody."

Meanwhile, The Athletic is a bit more bullish on Dickinson, who slotted third in the publication's rankings of the top big men in the sport, behind only Gonzaga's Drew Timme, who stands atop the list, and Illinois' Kofi Cockburn, who returned to play for the Illini after entering the transfer portal during the offseason.

"The intricacies of Hunter Dickinson’s offensive game are astounding, but you have to know what to look for, or it just sort of looks like 'big man catch ball, put ball in basket.' Dickinson’s footwork is immaculate," Eamonn Brennan wrote. "His hands are great. His speed of thought is incredible. He gets to his spot on the floor immediately, and then he makes his move immediately. He pins defenders behind them and never lets them get free. He twists and turns until he gets on the side of the rim he prefers (the left), with the ball in his left hand, over his right shoulder, and voila: two points.

"Doing these things extremely well can make you an extremely good college big man, and that’s what Dickinson was, in the throwback sense shared by many of his Big Ten colleagues on this list. He was a pure post player. He wasn’t a three-point shooter. He wasn’t going to play in space on the wing, or (hopefully, for him) have to switch on guards in space. Michigan worked hard to keep him out of bad pick-and-roll looks. He was a post player. He played in the post.

"As such, the NBA wasn’t all that interested in him becoming a pro in the summer, and so Dickinson — who had, in substance if not in style, almost the perfect one-and-done season — is back in Ann Arbor again, hoping to expand his game without losing what already made him great. In the meantime, he’s getting that NIL money and happily stirring up a nascent rivalry with Illinois fans on the Internet, the product of which is likely to be one of the most enjoyable intra-conference title chases we’ve seen in recent years. Dickinson is a great player; he’s also great for the sport."

Houstan ranked as the seventh-best wing in the nation by The Athletic, while Jones did not appear on the outlet's list of the top guards in college basketball.

"There is a lot to love about Houstan, a consensus top-10 recruit in the 2021 class who dominated on the Nike EYBL circuit in 2019 — there was no circuit in 2020 — with averages of 25 points, 7.7 boards, 4.0 assists and a deadeye 42.5 percent from three," Kyle Tucker wrote. "Our Big Ten insider Brendan Quinn won’t be surprised if Houstan has the second-highest usage on Michigan’s team this season and ends up the league’s Freshman of the Year.

"He was terrific for Canada at the U19 FIBA World Cup this summer, where he put up 17 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game, although he did sink just 11-of-58 3-point tries (19 percent). The outside shot will have to be more consistent for him to live up to his billing as a possible 2022 lottery pick, but he’s a winner.

"The highest-rated player to pick Michigan since Glenn Robinson III in 2012, Houstan led Montverde Academy to a pair of high school national titles and now hopes to deliver the Wolverines’ first NCAA championship since 1989."

Michigan basketball tips off its season Nov. 10 against Buffalo, following a Nov. 5 exhibition game at Wayne State.

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