For years, former St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla coached against John Beilein as he moved up the ladder from Canisus to Richmond to West Virginia.

He jokes that he should be gets a “commission on Coach Beilein’s contract” because he was so much a part of the 507 Division I wins the Michigan coach has compiled.

Fraschilla, a college basketball analyst for ESPN, sees this year’s Michigan team as a typical Beilein team - more of a team concept than players around a singular star.

“They are a team where, although they have two outstanding players, their whole is bigger than the sum of their parts,” Fraschilla said on a conference call Wednesday.

“They have embraced Coach Beilein’s system. They still don’t have a dominant inside player that you can throw the ball in to, but they are still a program that is very dangerous on any given night.”

Fraschilla pointed to the difficulty of playing against Beilein’s offensive and defensive schemes as a major factor for why his teams succeed. He also said he felt this year’s Michigan team has players who can shoot and are tough.

The question, though, is the one Beilein may still have as the season opens Friday with an exhibition against Wayne State - who will play point guard.

“One of the keys for them is going to be the development of the other guards like (Stu) Douglass and (Laval) Lucas-Perry and the kid from California (Darius Morris),” Fraschilla said.

One player Fraschilla is familiar with is junior guard Manny Harris, the player as close to a star as Michigan has this season. Fraschilla coached Harris at Nike camps and calls him a “perfect example” of a player understanding and thriving in Beilein’s system because of his skill set.

Harris can shoot and drive to get to the free throw line. His penetration forces defenses to collapse the lane, opening up shooters and passing lanes for three-pointers. Combine that with what Fraschilla said is an improved toughness and Harris has made himself one of the nation’s better players.

“Manny is safely among the Top 20, 25 players in the country,” Fraschilla said. “And maybe a little bit better than that.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.