For anyone who thought Dusty May couldn't recruit, let me be the first to tell you that the Michigan Wolverines currently have the No. 1 transfer portal class right now, with four commitments. Three of the four come in as four-star commits, while the final comes in as a five-star commit. So, let's all collectively pat May on the back.
With a class of this caliber, that also means this is a very expensive transfer. The House vs. NCAA has yet to be signed, so schools are not permitted to know how they use NIL collectives, which means signing deals now is crucial. So until that settlement is signed, big NIL deals are being handed out left and right, and Michigan has been one of the biggest dealers in college basketball.
Michigan basketball is one of the richest programs in the country and is set to spend almost $10 million on current players and new players coming in next season, both from the portal and from high school.
According to a story done by CBS Sports senior writer Matt Norlander, he spoke with numerous coaches from around college basketball, asking them to anonymously share their details on what it is like recruiting in this world of college basketball, and his findings were very interesting.
Norlander found that there are eight programs that are in the "golden tier," which are schools with $10-plus million to spend on next year's roster. Michigan is one of those schools, along with Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Indiana, Louisville, and St. John's.
"These programs either have $10 million committed already or are easily capable of reaching that total in roster-building efforts by the end of this year's transfer cycle," Norlander wrote in his article.
The CBS Sports writer said that these programs were the "whales" of the 2025 transfer portal, able to offer as much money as they need to in order to reel in the player. These teams make up half of the top 10 transfer portal team rankings, with Michigan leading the way.
Who is Michigan spending $10-plus million on?
Michigan is bringing in four guys from the transfer portal right now, and has two coming in from high school that are taking up the bulk of their NIL funds. Here are the players coming in:
- Elliot Cadeau (UNC)
- Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois)
- Yazel Lendeborg (UAB)
- Aday MAra (UCLA)
- Trey McKenney (4-star HS signee)
- Winters Grady (4-star HS signee)
May and the Wolverines understand that if they don't have the money to bring in the players they need, they can't be competitive. When he first came to Michigan, May said Michigan was in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten NIL funds, but now, after one season, he sees them as very competitive.
Michigan may not be able to spend this kind of money in the upcoming seasons with the House vs. NCAA settlement to be signed soon, but it looks like they will play with their most expensive roster in the 2025-2026 season making them a team to try and take down both in the Big Ten adn most likely in the NCAA Tournament. May just needs to match the success with the value of the team.