Michigan Basketball’s ideal starting lineup for next season

Center

So much of how Michigan basketball builds its roster depends on what Hunter Dickinson winds up doing. The Wolverines have been in contact with some bigs in the transfer portal but those talks are just exploratory until Dickinson decides which might not be until late in May.

The same thing can be said about Diabate and Houstan too, which is why you shouldn’t get too excited about transfer portal news because unless someone transfers out, or the Wolverines get creative with their scholarships, they have to wait before taking anyone.

I feel pretty good about Houstan returning. That’s just the vibe I get and I’m starting to get the same vibe with Dickinson, who hasn’t said anything about his intentions yet.

He’s probably the most high-profile guy in the Big Ten yet to announce if he’s going to test the waters or not. Chris Balas of The Wolverine reported that there are some NIL things in the works to try and keep him and hopefully that’s true because his return would be a game-changer.

Having to replace your leading scorer and rebounder is never easy and the ceiling is going to be much lower for next year’s team if he doesn’t return.

And despite a really strong season, it doesn’t feel like Dickinson improved his NBA Draft stock all that much, so why not run it back if you can make more money (NIL) at Michigan anyway?

In case he doesn’t, Michigan has a couple of options at center. One is Diabate if he returned and Dickinson went pro. The other is the transfer portal and it seems like Michigan would almost be forced to add a big guy to at least compete with incoming freshman Tarris Reed.