Dusty May won a national title with a three-big lineup, and now, it seems that he can’t have enough 7-footers. With Yaxel Lendeborg off to the NBA, May has landed Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella out of the portal while awaiting decisions from both Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. on their NBA Draft status.
If either stays in the draft, Michigan can’t be done adding to the front court. There’s a reasonable chance that both return, and in that case, May’s interest in additional bigs may wane. However, for one target in particular, May might have a bit of extra motivation to stay in the hunt.
On Thursday, Michigan was named as one of the teams involved in the recruitment of Washington transfer Franck Kepnang, who began his career at Oregon in 2020. Because of a COVID exempt season and two different medical redshirts, Kepnang should have one year of eligibility remaining.
Michigan could swipe Michigan State’s top portal target, Franck Kepnang
Kepnang is emerging as Michigan State’s top target as Izzo struggles to replace Carson Cooper and Jaxson Kohler with a proven veteran. The Spartans have been great at roster retention, with no players currently in the portal, but they haven’t landed any either. So, even with the No. 3 high school class in the country, they project to be a man short on the interior. Kepnang could be that man.
If May views him as a Mara replacement, while he’d bring similar rim protection ability, he’d certainly fit a different role on the offensive end. One of the reasons Michigan’s big lineup worked so well was that both Mara and Lendeborg are elite passers. The same goes for Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh at Florida. Kepnang posted a 1.7 percent assist rate last year, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t find a way to be effective.
The 6-foot-11 center from Cameroon averaged just 6.2 points for the Huskies in 27 games last season, but in his 22.9 minutes a game, he also chipped in 2.1 blocks and 6.3 rebounds. His 10 percent block rate ranked 37th in the country last year (per CBBanalytics.com). He thrives in the dunker spot and has real gravity as a lob-threat in transition and off the pick-and-roll.
While Michigan wouldn’t want to lose the battle, especially if Mara or Johnson leave, Kepnang seems to be a better fit for Michigan State. He’ll run the floor well in transition, keeping pace with Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr, and can anchor the defense, which is needed with Cooper and Kohler both gone. In a way, that’s all the more reason for May to keep him away from East Lansing.
Michigan’s best-case scenario is that it doesn’t need Kepnang, but if it does, pulling the rug out from under Izzo would be a nice bonus to go along with his commitment. The Spartans have already let Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell go to Indiana, so desperation might be setting in, if not for Izzo, then for the fanbase.
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