Before last Tuesday's game against then-No. 9 Michigan State, fifth-year senior guard C.J. Lee strutted across the court during warmups, yelling to teammates, "Let's go! Let's go!"

Nearby, fellow fifth-year senior David Merritt sternly went through the rhythm of the pre-game routine: drive to the basket, make a layup, run back in line.

As game time neared, Lee and Merritt headed to center court for the captains' meeting with the referees.

The scene was a little unusual, considering the two walk-ons had just three combined seasons on the Michigan roster. But at the start of the season, Merritt and Lee somehow found themselves almost unanimously elected as captains of the Michigan men's basketball team.

The only votes they didn't receive were their own.

DREAM SCHOOL

In the spring of 2006, Lee typed out an e-mail and pushed send.

He had gotten his release from Manhattan College, where he completed two years as a backup point guard. After corresponding with then-Michigan assistant coach Chuck Swenson, he decided to give up his scholarship in New York and walk on to the Wolverines.

"I just went for it," Lee said. "It was always my dream. I coudn't pass up on my dream."

Lee was born in Saginaw and spent 11 years in Lansing before moving to Pittsford, NY.

From the first time Lee's high school coach saw the young point guard play, he knew Lee was something special.

"I walked into the gym and sat in the stands and watched, and here's this kid running the point," said John Nally, the basketball coach at Pittsford Sutherland High School. "This freshman, telling everyone where to go, getting people organized, moving the ball around, running the point like he was a senior."

Nally's fondest memory was watching the guard score nine points in less than a minute, including a half-court shot, to win a game. Lee's teammates carried him off the court on their shoulders.

When it came time for college, the six-foot guard wasn't highly recruited. He was offered an opportunity to walk on at Michigan but instead took a scholarship offer from Manhattan.

"We saw something in him that schools out there, for whatever reason, didn't think he was good enough," then-Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "C.J was a winner. He was going to be our point guard and captain."

Lee spent two seasons at Manhattan, where he averaged just 4.3 minutes per game before Gonzalez left to become the Seton Hall head coach. The coaching change prompted Lee to send an e-mail to the Michigan coaching staff.

A few months later, he packed his bags for Ann Arbor.

TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN

It took Merrit three years to make the team.

The first time he got cut, he was disappointed. The second time, frustrated. The third time, when he finally earned a spot, relief.

"It was really horrible, actually, because I thought I was good enough to be on the team," Merritt said of his two failed tries. "I thought I had pretty good tryouts. I felt that I had worked hard enough throughout the summers, coming for open gyms, showing that I really cared about being on the team."

Merritt turned down his only scholarship offer, from Division-II Hillsdale, and decided to train year-round to prepare himself for the Michigan tryout. Every summer morning, he lifted weights, then spent hours in the gym playing basketball.

By his junior year, he had one last shot. Merritt promptly had what he described as his worst workout.

Despite that, he never had doubts about making the team.

"Merritt is a classic example of sticking with it, having a fire and a passion," Indiana coach Tom Crean said in a teleconference in January. "He's going to be a heck of a motivational speaker someday when it comes down to how to live your dreams."

After finally making the team, Merritt got introduced to the walk-on guard from New York, who, despite being the newcomer, wouldn't shut his mouth. From there, Lee and Merritt spent the season fighting for a spot on Tommy Amaker's squad.

But at the end of the season, Lee once again faced the scenario of a head coach leaving the program.

FILLING THE VACUUM

When Michigan coach John Beilein was hired, Lee and Merritt had no idea what their role as walk-ons would be in the new regime.