All-Time List of U-M Players on the Pistons
I loved the list that somebody posted in the Isaiah thread yesterday of all the Michigan players who had been drafted by the Pistons (Dan Pelekoudas in the 10th round!).
So with Isaiah Livers set to join their ranks, here’s the all-time list of Michigan players who actually played for the Pistons, along with their years with the Pistons. Some of these guys only played a few games with Detroit.
The greatest Wolverine/Piston of all time is probably Terry Mills, who spent the most seasons with the team and had some really good seasons there. Webber was obviously the best player, but he was only with the Pistons for one season at the end of his career. Phil Hubbard also had a pretty good Pistons career.
The most recent Wolverine/Piston is Derrick Walton, who played three games with Detroit a couple years ago.
- Bill Buntin (1965-66)
- Wayman Britt (1977-78)
- Rickey Green (1978-79)
- Phil Hubbard (1979-82)
- Alan Hardy (1981-82)
- Terry Mills (1992-97 and 1999-00)
- Loy Vaught (1998-00)
- Chris Webber (2006-07)
- Glenn Robinson III (2018-19)
- Derrick Walton (2019-20)
Thanks for the list. It's fewer than I expected.
especially considering all the drafted players I had to type out yesterday.
I wonder why the NBA draft persisted in going ten rounds (or more than 2) for so long, given the size of rosters...
Then again, I'm old enough to remember a 12-round NFL draft...
i was trying to figure out how to do a search on basketball-reference.com to do exactly that...is that how you did it?
Yep, but I had to click on every individual player to see if they ever played on the Pistons. Took a little while, but I got to do some quick research on every Michigan player who ever played in the NBA.
right? sometimes i go on the reference.com sites and find myself there hours later, which is wonderful, but sometimes i just want a quick search to find this stuff out...not always easy to run them tho.
Apparently, I have not been watching the Pistons enough, because I had no clue Walton was ever on the team.
The Pistons version of Webber was hard for me to watch. He was still super skilled, but had lost the movement\athleticism by that point if I recall correctly. You could see the effort every night though.
FUN FACT: My mother was Terry Mills' 8th grade history teacher, and she does remember him, oddly enough.
I mean, it's probably hard to forget a 6'10 bald eighth grader with a shot like that. Give your mom some credit!
"washington, he just crossed the delaware and nobody was home to stop him! he just MADE a PLAY with all of his ability..."
Bill Buntin was my first favorite player from the Wolverines. Was just a bit short for NBA center at the time and struggled with weight a bit after he left Mich. Died of a heart attack playing in a pick-up game after his short NBA career ended. He was great at Michigan and with Cazzie for 2 years (he was a year ahead of him) is in the conversation for best 2 man combo ever for the Wolverines.
George Lee played 2 seasons with the Pistons - 1960-62.
Ricky Green was one of my favorite college players.