The offseason has officially begun for the Michigan basketball team. The Wolverines were knocked out of the Sweet 16 by Auburn on Friday night, meaning their attention now turns toward the transfer portal and reloading for the 2025-26 season.
Many other programs have already started that process. Hell, Michigan basketball started it while it was preparing for the Sweet 16. That's just life in college basketball.
Michigan was connected to Iowa big man Owen Freeman, but he ended up choosing Creighton. There is a ist of players the Wolverines have expressed interest in, or contacted, but things should get more serious now that the Wolverines can focus on roster building full time.
Two names that popped up on the radar late in the week are Toledo guard Sam Lewis, an All-MAC selection last season as a sophomore, as well as Bubu Benjamin, another sophomore who had a stellar campaign for Tarleton State.
Michigan basketball linked to dynamic scorers in transfer portal
After scoring just 3.2 points per game as a freshman, Lewis, a 6-foot-6 guard, averaged 16.3 points per game this season for the Rockets. Lewis shot 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range with 59 makes from beyond the arc (1.8 per game).
A bunch of schools are in the mix, but it's clear that Michigan needs more scoring and shooting in the backcourt, and Lewis could help with that. Benjamin could too. The 6-foot-7 wing went from scoring 2.8 points per game to 13.9 in 2024-25.
in addition to that, he averaged 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals. Benjamin is also a skilled 3-point shooter. He made 1.5 per game this season and shot 38 percent.
Roddy Gayle and Will Tschetter both said they will be back after the loss to Auburn. Nimari Burnett also has another year if he wants to use it. Danny Wolf has an NBA draft decision but I'd be stunned if he returned, so the Wolverines might have to replace three starters, depending on what Burnett does.