Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May has invested heavily in high school recruiting throughout his career. It sounds like he wants to do the same in Ann Arbor.
But the current roster situation will make that difficult, at least for the 2024-25 season. There’s not a single player who has publicly committed to playing for Michigan basketball next season.
We have heard some reports about Durral Brooks and the other signee, Christian Anderson, but May said it’s basically a two-way conversation with each player and those haven’t happened. May said he’s spoken with players on the roster. He wants to evaluate them and have them evaluate him.
That’s how it should work. At least if the interest is finding the best fit for building the best team. Michigan basketball didn’t always do that under Juwan Howard. The previous head coach chased talent over fit too often and eventually paid the price.
You need talented players. But you also need the right fit for Michigan. That’s something John Beilein has stressed. He said he never had a problem with admissions. But he also identified the right player for the school.
That philosophy will be put to the test early. May might have to bring in double-digit transfers to fill out a roster for next season. It probably won’t work out that way, but 6-8 seems realistic and May has already contacted two.
Michigan basketball in contact with transfer portal targets
Connor Essegian just left Wisconsin and after averaging 11 points per game as a freshman, shooting 35 percent from deep, before playing much fewer minutes in 2023-24, there’s mutual interest between him and the Wolverines.
Davis Moseley reported that mutual interest. On Wednesday, he also reported that May has contacted Essegian. Indiana is in the mix too and Essegian is from the Hoosier State. But which program would you rather join right now as Mike Woodson seems headed for the same fate as Juwan Howard.
Essegian would also be an ideal fit. He’s 6-foot-4 and can shoot the heck out of the ball. He’s also a proven commodity based on what he’s already done in the Big Ten.
May has also reached out to Jason Rivera-Torres. The Michigan basketball head coach recruited him when he was at FAU. Rivera-Torres played 29 games for Vandy last season and shot 24 percent from 3-point range.
The 6-foot-6 wing ranked No. 114 overall in the 2023 class, made only 21 3-pointers last season. Yet, he had seven games in which he made multiple treys. There seems to be some promise and May is likely relying on his evaluation of Rivera-Torres coming out of high school.
It certainly seems like a fit. However, a ton of schools have reached out. There are a couple in the Big Ten, even Alabama. May had FAU among his finalists as a recruit so this seems like a realistic possibility. Stay tuned.
Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics and Big Ten content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms.
FOOTBALL2 days ago
BASKETBALL7 hours ago
FOOTBALL1 day ago
FOOTBALL20 hours ago
FOOTBALL1 day ago
FOOTBALL37 mins ago
FOOTBALL8 hours ago