Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from transfers, addition of Mike Smith

It’s been a busy week for Michigan basketball, with two players transferring out and also graduate transfer Mike Smith committing. Here are three takeaways.

No matter how you slice it, the Michigan basketball program had a lot going on this week. And with Joshua Christopher committing Monday, it’s not over yet.

While Michigan basketball fans should be relieved that the long recruiting battle over Christopher is finally coming to a close, when he announces his decision Monday, between the Wolverines and Arizona State, it doesn’t cure the uneasiness over where he ends up.

We’ll address that in a  minute. But also this week, roster attrition finally reached the Wolverines as David DeJulius entered the transfer portal this week, only to be followed by Colin Castleton, another 2018 commit, just a few days later.

It wasn’t a shock that either left the program, although, fans were more surprised by the DeJulius exit than Castleton. Yet, it seems that since Castleton didn’t enter till nearly midnight, maybe the staff didn’t have as much heads up as with DDJ.

At any rate, the loss of DeJulius, at least what he brought last season, should be covered by the addition of Mike Smith, who scored nearly 23 points a game last season for a bad Columbia team in the Ivy League. Smith can shoot, distribute and handle, so it’s a great move.

But how does it all fit together? That’s one thing that will be examined, but first, some deeper thoughts on departures.