As far as roster retention goes, Michigan's interim head coach Mike Boynton could not be doing any better.
It has been more than a week since Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks, nearly two, yet not a single Michigan basketball player has announced his intention to leave the roster.
The timing of May's exit might have helped. College basketball teams had built their rosters and spent their NIL budgets, but with J.P. Estrella and Moustapha Thiam back on the market, even though the portal hasn't opened for Michigan basketball players, it wouldn't have been shocking if either left.
Bigs are like gold in college basketball. Few teams have enough. That's why it was easy for Michigan fans to be worried about Thiam and Estrella, and to a lesser extent, 6-foot-10 Jalen Reed.
NEWS: Jalen Reed is staying at Michigan despite Dusty May’s departure, he told On3.
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) July 3, 2026
The 6-foot-10 transfer forward from LSU averaged 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds over his last two seasons before suffering season-ending injuries in back-to-back years.https://t.co/Kfq5IRRj0c pic.twitter.com/5hMJj4Zbx2
Reed, who transferred to Michigan from LSU, transferred to Michigan this spring. On Friday, it was reported by Joe Tipton that he will indeed play for the Wolverines this season, in another important retention for Boynton, who now has kept his top-3 big, in terms of veterans, not counting Quinn Costello. Thiam and Estrella are laos coming back.
Michigan basketball is in a great spot with bigs after Jalen Reed retention
That's a great place to be. Reed is a former top-100 recruit. He only played in six games last season for the Tigers, but averaged 9.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. Reed shot 57 percent from the field, including 42.9 percent from 3-point range. He also made 60.7 percent of his twos.
The biggest question with Reed isn't his talent. He averaged 11.1 points per game in 2024-25 with LSU, although he started just eight games.
As a sophomore, he started 20 games for the Tigers and shot 51.6 percent from the field. He's been a productive player before, scoring 7.9 points and grabbing 4.1 rebounds that season. Reed is a better player, now, he just needs to stay on the floor.
The good news is that Michigan won't need him to start next season. Thiam and Estrella are expected to have those roles. If Reed can be the third big man off the bench, that would be massive. Costello will also get a shot at some of those minutes, but he could play some at the three, too.
Reed is Michigan's most underrated transfer. He's a good defender, too, who would allow the Wolverines to switch just 1-4 or even 1-5 as they were able to do at times last season. His value will be apparent if he's healthy, and keeping him was another solid move by Boynton.
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