Dusty May has been a busy man since taking over as the Michigan basketball head coach. We learned on Thursday night that he’s secured the commitment of Durral Brooks, who has already signed with the Wolverines, yet with a new coach, there are always questions.
It’s also easier than ever to get out of a letter of intent and enter the portal. But Brooks won’t be doing that. He’ll be playing for Michigan basketball and is the first confirmed player for the 2024-25 roster.
Four scholarship players haven’t entered the transfer portal, but they also haven’t confirmed if they will be back next season. May will have to be part of those decisions too and the fit has to be right.
Latest on Michigan basketball roster
The fit needs to be right in the transfer portal too. But even if all of Michigan’s current scholarship players come back, plus Brooks and Christian Anderson, May would still have seven spots to fill. Many have pointed to three former All-Conference players at FAU as possible roster fits, but those three — Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin, and Vladislav Goldin — haven’t entered the portal.
For reference, Tucker DeVries already committed to West Virginia, following his father, Darian DeVries to the Mountaineers. Michigan basketball fans were hoping the FAU guys would follow May, but we are nearly a week since the hire and there hasn’t been a whiff of movement.
New transfer portal targets
Michigan basketball reached out to Cade Tyson, one of the best 3-point shooters in the transfer portal. Tyson is from Belmont and averaged 16.5 points per game as a sophomore last season. He also made 46.5 percent of his 3-point shots and averaged 2.6 makes per game.
May talked about Michigan basketball shooting lots of 3-pointers. Well, adding a shooter like Tyson would make sense. The problem is that about 50 programs have reached out including Kansas, Villanova, Auburn, Florida, and a bunch more. It won’t be an easy land, plus admissions is always a worry for non-freshman and non-graduate transfers.
May is also targeting Colorado transfer J’Vonne Hadley. This is interesting because Hadley just completed his junior season, although it’s possible he will graduate this spring. Seniors can be tough to admit because of the transfer of their credits to Michigan (Caleb Love comes to mind, and Terrence Shannon too).
Yet, the 6-foot-6 guard averaged 11 points last season in 34 starts for Colorado, an NCAA tournament team. He didn’t attempt many 3-pointers — just 1.3 per game — but made 0.6 per game for 41.7 percent. He also grabbed six rebounds per game, in addition to 1.4 steals and 2.4 assists.
The competition will be fierce. Five Big Ten teams, Michigan included, have already reached out. However, Hadley could be a nice piece, especially if May can’t bring any of his FAU guys with him.
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