Dusty May just wrapped up his first season as the head coach of the Michigan basketball program, and it was a successful one. The Wolverines finished tied for second place in the Big Ten, and they ended up winning the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. One year in, and May is already raising a banner in Ann Arbor.
The Michigan basketball team earned a five-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they went on a solid run. The Wolverines survived a scare in the first round against 12-seed UCSD, and they pulled off an impressive victory against four-seed Texas A&M in the round of 32. Michigan played top overall seed Auburn in the Sweet 16, and they had the Tigers on the ropes at one point. The Wolverines led by nine points with around 12 minutes to go, but Auburn dominated down the stretch to earn the win.
Michigan went 8-24 during the 2023-24 season, and they finished in last place in the Big Ten. It was one of the worst seasons in program history. Dusty May came in and built a roster in the college basketball transfer portal, and he completely flipped the script in just one season. It was an incredibly impressive coaching job, and it’s a good sign that he can identify elite transfer portal prospects while getting them to buy into his culture.
In today’s era of college basketball, the transfer portal is incredibly important. It’s huge for new coaches who are in the same position that May was in last year when he was hired. He took over a team that just finished in last place, and he needed to completely change the roster. May did an outstanding job in the portal.
The transfer portal is crucial for every coach, not just the ones that are new to a program. Great teams with great coaches are going to lose talent every single year, and being able to bring in experienced guys to pick up the slack is the name of the game now.
The Michigan basketball team is losing some of their best talent this offseason as Vladislav Goldin is done, and Danny Wolf is likely leaving for the NBA. Dusty May needs to have another good offseason in the transfer portal if the Wolverines are going to be a contender next year.
Who Michigan has already landed
May has already been busy in the transfer portal as he has picked up a couple of big commitments already. So far, the Wolverines have landed North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau and Illinois transfer Morez Johnson Jr. Johnson Jr. should be able to help fill the void from Goldin leaving, and Cadeau’s commitment sent Tre Donaldson into the transfer portal. It seems like May saw more potential out of Cadeau, and that pushed Donaldson out the door.
Michigan has some good pickups already, but the work isn’t done. Here are two more players that the Wolverines are targeting:
Yaxel Lendeborg, F, UAB
The hottest name in the transfer portal right now is Yaxel Lendeborg, who is transferring from UAB. Lendeborg is a 6’9″, 240 LB forward that just had a monster season with the Blazers. He averaged 17.7 points per game and 11.4 rebounds per game. He can score in a lot of different ways, and he is also a good ball-handler. His athleticism sets him apart from other bigs. He has been compared to Danny Wolf and also Auburn’s Johni Broome. If Wolf leaves, Lendeborg would be the perfect replacement.
Rodney Rice, G, Maryland
Maryland lost head coach Kevin Willard to Villanova after their season ended, and some players decided to hit the portal. Rodney Rice is one of them, and the Michigan basketball team is reportedly interested. Picking up Rice would be huge for the Wolverines as he brings the ability to shoot the deep ball, and Michigan could use a shooter from the transfer portal. Rice averaged just under 13.8 PPG last season, and he shot 37.4% from three.
Transfer portal overview
The college basketball transfer portal opened up on March 24th, and it will be open for about a month as it closes on April 22nd. The final game of the season will take place on April 7th, and the portal opening up before then does create issues for teams that are still dancing.
First of all, players that want to transfer have to make a difficult decision. They can either finish up their season with their current team and miss out on potential opportunities, or they can skip the NCAA Tournament so they can find their next home. We saw this happen already as Michigan freshman Justin Pippen left the program before the Sweet 16.
This also creates an issue for coaches as they are trying to devote 100% of their time to tournament preparation. A lot of coaches want to wait until their season is over before they explore the transfer portal. All in all, the opening date creates some issues.
The college basketball transfer portal is only open during this initial window, unlike football, which has two different windows. From now until the portal closes in late April, there will be a lot of transfer portal news in the college basketball world.
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