When former NBA player Fred Hoiberg was at Iowa State in the early 1990s, he was so popular that he earned the nickname “The Mayor” after receiving write-in votes for the Ames, Iowa mayoral race.

Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje might want to watch his back, because Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein has someone with a similar personality as Hoiberg.

“He’s one of these guys who could run for mayor of the freshman class or something,” said Beilein about freshman Ben Cronin. “He’s easily seen and easily speaks. Anybody who has met him (knows) he’s a really delightful kid to be around.”

When Beilein says Cronin is “easily seen,” he’s not kidding. The 265-pounder is the first 7-footer to don the maize and blue since Josh Moore in 2000. He wears size 17 shoes and his 7-foot-5 wingspan matches that of Yao Ming.

Cronin is big off the court, but he has yet to make an impact on the court. And while Michigan’s three other freshmen — Stu Douglass, Laval Lucas-Perry and Zack Novak — have accounted for nearly 30 percent of the Wolverines’ offense, Cronin is still waiting for his chance to show what he can do.

Cronin injured his left hip during a workout in the spring of his senior year at Henninger High School in Syracuse, N.Y. His injury worsened when he got to Ann Arbor and Beilein redshirted Cronin on Dec. 23.

Two weeks after the redshirt decision, he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip — a procedure with an expected recovery time of four to six months. For nearly one month, Cronin was forced to use crutches.

“It sucks,” Cronin said in the locker room after the Michigan State game on Feb. 10. “I don’t even get to hear the huddles anymore. (I don't) even know what play we’re running. Overall, I’m just kind of frustrated right now.”

But on Feb. 17, Cronin was cleared to walk on his own. Two days later, he was moving around, dribbling and shooting layups before Michigan hosted Minnesota. Even with a shirt and tie on, Cronin looked the happiest he has since getting on crutches.

Douglass, Cronin's roommate, seemed just as happy about Cronin's recovery.

“He’s not laying in bed and bossing me around and whatnot,” said Douglass. “I can clean the room a little bit. I don’t have to take the trash out all the time and be his caterer.”

Cronin will continue a rehabilitation process so he can be in optimal game shape by June.

“Just trying to get all the movement back, start to strengthen my legs,” Cronin said. “I know my left calf and quads are so much stronger than my right one already."

If all goes well, Cronin will then have the entire summer and fall to prepare for the 2009-10 season. Beilein said Cronin will spend a lot of time with strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis to regain quickness and jumping ability.

“Because of the hip problems, he didn’t go through a lot of the preseason training,” Beilein said. “And there’s some major gut work involved in preseason training at all levels of college basketball, including here. Those are types of things that I think will be interesting how he handles. He will handle them, I know he will do that. But is he ready for it? I don’t know.”

A healthy Cronin would help Michigan’s small lineup, which currently features just one player (redshirt junior Zack Gibson) over 6-foot-8. Michigan is so undersized that 6-foot point guard C.J. Lee played the small forward position for much of the season. If Cronin can return from the injury, he will be an integral part of the team next season, both on and off the court.

“He will have a great attitude, he’s a great kid,” Beilein said. “He’s going to be a great leader on this team. That’s our hope because he’s got such a great personality.”