Michigan Wolverines news: Two big transfer portal victories, positive recruiting trends, and more

Wednesday was a good day for the Michigan Wolverines as Michigan football and Michigan basketball made moves in the transfer portal. We cover that and more. 

It was a wild ride for the Michigan Wolverines and transfer portal target Olivier Nkamhoua. But on Wednesday, after a lot of back and forth, the talented power forward committed and signed with the Michigan baskeball program.

Soon after Nkamhoua announced his commitment, the Michigan baskeball program officially announced the move. Also of note, Davis Moseley of The Michigan Insider reported that Nimari Burnett and Tray Jackson are signed too.

So as far as transfer portal drama, that’s over for the Michigan Wolverines, and here’s what head coach Juwan Howard had to say about this huge addition.

"“It’s a thrill to be able to bring in an efficient and skilled player like Olivier. He brings so many intangibles and experiences we know he will have an immediate impact for us. His strength, rebounding, hustle, back-to-the-basket game, as well as outside shooting, are just a few of his skill sets that fans notice right away. However, what people don’t realize is what a tremendous passer he is. He sees the floor and plays develop as good as anyone I have seen,” the Michigan coach added. “We are very excited for him to get to Ann Arbor.”"

We also broke down what this addition means for Michigan baskeball. In short, it’s a big-time get, and not just because Nkamhoua averaged double figures in scoring.

Nkamhoua is also an elite defender. It’s easy to get caught up in shooting percentages and scoring averages. But the Michigan baskeball team was bad on defense in 2022-23 and that, as much as anything, is why they didn’t make the NCAA tournament.

With Tarris Reed, Dug McDaniel (a plus defender in my book long term), Youssef Khayat, Burnett, and Nkamhoua, the Michigan Wolverines could have a formidable defense. Another scoring option at guard or wing is needed and hopefully, another transfer portal addition is on the horizon.

Nkamhoua was much-needed though. I don’t know how Juwan Howard made it happen. Maybe Howard demanded something change of Warde Manuel and NIL. There were also rumors on Twitter that Nkamhoua wanted to go to Michigan all along.

So who knows? But we can probably table any talk of Juwan walking away from the Michigan basketball job, which was something I was kind of worried about for a second (if an NBA team called). Maybe not right this second, but after another rough season and no hope in the portal, I wouldn’t blame him and Juwan has options.

Hopefully, this will get things headed back in the right direction because the Michigan Wolverines really need to get back to the NCAA tournament, just like Juwan needs to get this program back on track after two straight disappointing seasons.

Michigan football lands a transfer corner

The Michigan football team also made a big move in the transfer portal by landing former UMass cornerback Josh Wallace.

Wallace was a four-star starter for the Minutemen and has over 2,000 career snaps to his credit. He’s also been credited with 32 solo tackles in each of the past two seasons. The 6-foot-1 cornerback intercepted two passes a year ago and broke up 20 over the past two seasons.

Here are my thoughts on his commitment and what it means for the upcoming Michigan football season.

Positive trends for Michigan football recruiting

Things are trending in the right direction for a few recruits. Jacob Smith received another crystal ball projection to land with the Michigan Wolverines.

Another Smith, Jaden Smith (not related to Jacob and Jadon), who could play linebacker or safety for the Michigan football program, has also started trending with crystal ball projections to U-M.

Michigan football was also projected to land the commitment of Jordan Shipp earlier this week and it feels like the Wolverines are the firm leader in that recruitment as well.

More Michigan Wolverines news

• The Miami Heat is now down 2-1 in the NBA Finals after the Nuggets rolled to a double-digit win on Wednesday night. Duncan Robinson, the former Michigan Wolverines standout, hit three 3-pointers and scored nine points for Miami in 14 minutes in defeat.
• Michigan football fans will also get a better idea of what the schedule will look like in the future. The Big Ten is announcing a future schedule model that includes USC/UCLA for the 2024-25 season at 4:30 PM EST on Big Ten Network on Thursday.