It’s getting hard to keep up with all of the Michigan basketball commitments. But Sam Walters, a 6-foot-10 sharpshooter from Alabama, is the latest for the Wolverines.
By the end of last week, some were asking when the commitment drought was going to end. Now, it’s like when will the commitments end? Walters makes it six in four days, with five coming via the transfer portal.
What’s impressive is that four of those five transfers have multiple years of eligibility. Rubin Jones is the only graduate transfer so far, although there is still confidence that Vlad Goldin, the FAU All-Conference center is coming too.
Walters was the third visitor from this past weekend to join Michigan basketball. Point guard Tre Donaldson and guard Roddy Gayle, from Ohio State, also committed to May on Monday. The 6-foot-10 forward/wing from Alabama was ranked in the top 100 as a recruit coming out of high school.
He played in 37 games for an Alabama team that went to the Final Four. He averaged just 12 minutes per game but made 1.1 3-point field goals per game and shot from deep at a 39 percent clip. In total, he averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds. But shooting is his forte and last season, he ranked seventh in all of college basketball as a spot-up shooter. Walters chose Michigan baskeball over Ohio State, Kentucky, and Louisville.
Breaking down commitment of Sam Walters to Michigan basketball
You have to be impressed with the way Dusty May is building this roster. He’s added two shooters who are 6-foot-10 or taller, plus multiple guards/wings who can handle the ball and shoot. Justin Pippen looks like a future NBA draft pick, and Tre Donaldson is a solid two-way point guard.
The highest-ranked commitment, Danny Wolf, is one of two transfers to come from a mid-major. The rest are from the Big Ten and SEC. Those guys have started and played extensively so the game isn’t going to be too big for them.
You have a good idea of what Roddy Gayle, Tre Donaldson, and now Sam Walters are going to give you. Walters has a bunch of upside. And with the lineup Michigan is putting together, he will add a critical floor spacer.
If Vlad Goldin joins, Michigan will be dangerous. A starting five that includes Goldin, Wolf, Jones, Gayle, and Donaldson, plus potentially Pippen, Walters, Nimari Burnett, Tschetter, Durral Brooks, George Washington III, and Jace Howard — at least right now, off the bench, sounds pretty good.
That would give Michigan 12 players on the roster. They are still pushing for Liam McNeeley and Khani Rooths. There are other 2024 targets in play and other transfers.
Johnell Davis is the big name, outside of Goldin, that Michigan fans want in the portal, but it feels like that won’t happen and Gayle’s commitment reaffirms that in my eyes.
We’ll see what happens though. But don’t expect Dusty May to slow down. He seems determined to get this team back to the NCAA tournament and win right away.
He’s off to a damn good start.
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