Daniel Horton (basketball)

Horton played four seasons at the University of Michigan, from 2002 to 2006. He entered as the No. 14 overall recruit in the country according to ESPN, one spot behind Chris Bosh.^[1] Horton represented the United States national under-18 team in the 2002 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup and was a starter in the McDonald's All-American Game in 2002.^[2] It would be two decades before the Wolverines would sign another McDonald's All-American recruit.^[3] In 2003, he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team and earned the Michigan Wolverines' Bill Buntin MVP award. In 2004, he won the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with the Wolverines and earned its MVP award. In 2005, he missed the majority of the season with a knee injury. In 2006, he was voted to the All-Big Ten First Team by the media, the All-Big Ten Second Team by the coaches and won his second Bill Buntin MVP award.^[4] While at Michigan, Horton averaged 14.7 points, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals.^[5]

As a senior, he earned many of Michigans's yearly awards in 2006, including the aforementioned Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player Award, the Wayman Britt Outstanding Defensive Player Award, the Gary Grant Award for Most Assists, the Outstanding Free Throw Shooting Award and the Iron Man Award. Horton led the Wolverines in scoring, assists and steals, and finished the year fifth in the nation with a 90.1 free throw percentage (second all-time in Michigan basketball history), including a Big Ten single-season record with a 97.8 free throw percentage in conference games. On February 21, 2006, Horton scored a collegiate-high 39 points against Illinois. He finished his career second all-time in school history in steals (187), three-point field goals (233), three-point fields goals attempted (651), fourth all-time in assists (484) and eleventh in points scored (1,614).^[4]