Michigan men's basketball is back in the Big Ten tournament semifinals for a fifth straight event,

and the Wolverines have done that in large part thanks to incredible point guard play.

In 2016, Michigan was very much on the NCAA tournament bubble when Derek Walton Jr. shook off some shooting issues

to dish out 17 assists in Michigan's two victories, the 17th of which went, of course,

to Cam Chapman, who stunned top-seated Indiana at the buzzer,

ultimately propelling Michigan into the first four of the big dance.

The next year, Walton was a finished product, no shooting issues.

He was the leader of a team that endured so much. A plane crash,

a day of second try flight to Washington, D.C., and then a four-game, four-day run, never

before seen, both on the floor in the Big Ten tournament and off the floor, considering the

context. Eighth-seated Michigan, won at all. And Walton, 19 points, five assists,

then 12 and 4. Then 29 and 9 before the championship game, he came up with 22 points and 7

assists. It was a brilliant march for an all-time great Michigan point guard in Derek Walton, Jr.

Sure enough, Xavier Simpson

maintained that standard of excellence. He played all but 25 minutes over four games in 2018,

scoring 10 plus in every game, dishing out 16 assists in route to a second consecutive Big 10

Tournament Championship for the program, and ultimately a birth in that season's national

championship game. Then Simpson helped Michigan reach the title game of the big 10 tournament

in 2019, extending Michigan's winning streak in the event to a record setting 10 before falling

on championship Sunday. And Simpson was brilliant. 30 total assists in those three games had just two turnovers, and you never know what

Simpson could have delivered for Michigan in 2020 before that tournament and the season

itself was cut short.

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