The team was coached by John Beilein and played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Crisler Arena, which has a capacity of 13,751, for the forty-third consecutive year.

It was seeded eighth in the single-elimination 2010 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament where it advanced one round.

[3][4] Following the University of Michigan basketball scandal, the team had completed serving a scholarship probation imposed in 2003 two years earlier.

However, Michigan continued to be prohibited from affiliation with implicated athletes (Chris Webber, Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor, and Louis Bullock) until 2012, which meant, among other things, that the players could not help the university recruit.

The team was led by a pair of Wooden Award preseason watchlist nominees: Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims.

Turner's buzzer-beater came in the second round of the 2010 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament in which the eighth-seeded Wolverines lost by a point to the top-seeded Buckeyes.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Sims and Harris were named to the 2nd and 3rd All-Big Ten teams, respectively, by both conference coaches and the media.

Following the Big Ten tournament both players were recognized as 2nd-team All-District selections by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

November 12, 2008, marked the first day of the early signing period for high school seniors wishing to become eligible student-athletes in the 2009–2010 academic year.

[7][9] The team was the choice of four blue chip prospects who followed through on their verbal commitments and signed letters of intent including Matt Vogrich and Darius Morris.

[19] However, ESPN chose both Lucas and Turner to its preseason second-team All-American list, while Harris was not shown on a single ballot.

They recovered with a 29–13 run led by twelve points each from Harris and Sims to end the first half en route to a 77–55 victory against Houston Baptist.

[29] During the Thanksgiving weekend, Michigan participated in the eight-team fourth annual Old Spice Classic at The Milk House in Orlando, Florida.

On November 26, which was Thanksgiving Day, they defeated Creighton 83–76 in overtime when Harris fell one rebound shy of a triple double.

[34] The Wolverines began December competition in the ACC – Big Ten Challenge by losing to Boston College 62–58.

[37] Michigan rebounded as both Harris and Sims posted season highs with 27 and 23 points respectively in a 75–64 win over University of Detroit Mercy.

[40] Zack Novak and Stu Douglass led the Wolverines in scoring in their conference season opening 71–65 loss to Indiana on New Year's Eve.

[41] Sims and Harris led the way to the first conference victory on January 3 against a #15-ranked Ohio State team without its leading scorer, Evan Turner.

[48][49] On January 23, while Manny Harris served a one-game suspension, Sims posted 21 points and Novak added 16, but after taking an 11–10 lead, the Wolverines surrendered a 16–2 run to Purdue that they never recovered from.

[57] On February 23, Michigan shot only 20% in the first half and fell behind 26–18 and trailed Illinois most of the rest of the game despite 15 points and 11 rebounds from Harris.

[63] After trailing #5-ranked Ohio State by a 51–38 margin, sharpshooting by Harris and Douglass brought Michigan to within 59–57, which led to a frantic finish.