Inside the W with Michelle Smith: University of Michigan Campus Connection

Michigan is one of the most storied names in collegiate sports and the women’s basketball program is now claiming its share of that important legacy, while preparing talented senior forward Naz Hillmon to be one of the top picks in the WNBA Draft.
Under head coach Kim Barnes Arico, Michigan earned the highest seed in program history this season, coming into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed after finishing third in the Big Ten, hosting the first two rounds of the Tournament for the first time in program history as well.
The Wolverines (22-6) are making their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance (a first in program history) under Barnes Arico, and coming off the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in 2021.
For many years, Michigan struggled to break out of the lower half of the Big Ten standings, with four NCAA appearances between 1998 and 2012, all first-round losses.
But Barnes-Arico has changed the trajectory of the program, with four top 4 Big Ten finishes in the last six years, that success enabling her to bring in a player like Hillmon.
Hillmon – the 6-foot-2 wing from Cleveland – is a versatile, consistent star for the Wolverines, scoring in double figures in all but one game this season. She became the first Michigan player ever named to the AP All-American team thanks to her stellar senior season in which she
It has been a strong follow-up to a 2020-21 season in which she won Big Ten Player of the Year honors and set the schools single-game scoring record with a 50-point game against rival Ohio State.
Hillmon is set to be the seventh Michigan player drafted into the WNBA, projected to be the program’s first first-round pick and the first draft pick since 2005.
Longtime WNBA reporter Michelle Smith writes a column on WNBA.com throughout the season. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its clubs.
NCAA players mentioned in this article will become eligible for the 2022 draft at such point as they renounce their remaining NCAA eligibility and thereby make themselves available for the draft.