Michigan basketball has already lost a player to transfer portal

Michigan basketball is headed to the Sweet 16, but that doesn't mean the Wolverines are immune to roster departures.

The college basketball transfer portal opened on Monday and one of Dusty May's early recruiting wins with Michigan basketball is headed out the door.

Justin Pippen, a composite four-star recruit in the 2024 class, and the son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen, will be playing somewhere else next season after entering the transfer according to Travis Branham of 247 Sports.

The 6-foot-3 guard saw limited action this season for Michigan basketball but played in 28 games. He averaged 1.6 points per game on 27 percent shooting but it's hard when you have limited shooting opportunities.

Pippen did seem to have a future with Michigan basketball though. L.J. Cason passed him on the depth chart but Pippen is more of a combo guard and there would have been minutes available next season.

Yet, Tre Donaldson should be back and five-star point guard Trey McKenney signed with the Wolverines too, in the 2025 class, so there is a bit of a logjam, especially since Roddy Gayle should be back too, and probably has a good chance to start.

Either way, Pippen will enter the portal in a move that's surprising but not surprising.

The Wolverines season isn't even over, however, Pippen didn't travel with the Michigan basketball team to Denver for its first and second-round NCAA tournament games against UC San Diego and Texas A&M because he was in the concussion protocol.

Pippen now joins Nimari Burnett, Vlad Goldin, Will Tschetter, Rubin Jones, and Jace Howard are sure-fire offseason departures. The others will be out of eligibility. Danny Wolf is also expected to enter the NBA draft, although that's just speculation.