With the college basketball season officially coming to an end with Florida's national championship victory over Houston, it's time to begin looking towards the next season. Michigan basketball has tons of hype surrounding them at the moment, after landing a talented recruiting class and holding one of the top transfer classes in the nation.
The Wolverines landed at No.5 in ESPN's way-too-early rankings for next season. They were behind Houston, Purdue, Louisville, and UConn. The reason for this high ranking is primarily Michigan's success in the transfer portal. ESPN (and most people) are expecting that the three transfers Michigan basketball has landed thus far will make up 3/5 of the starting spots.
And the Wolverines aren't done in the portal yet either. They're still looking for a true big, as Morez Johnson and Yaxel Lendeborg are both 6'9. The Wolverines are hot in pursuit of UCLA big man transfer Aday Mara, who is 7'3 and could be a defensive monster for Michigan. I'd definitely expect them to land at least one more depth piece from the portal.
The Wolverines also appear set to return Will Tschetter, Roddy Gayle, and potentially Nimari Burnett. That, combined with incoming freshmen guard Trey McKenney (5 star), wing Winters Grady, and big man Oscar Goodman (who actually reclassified and was on campus last semester). This is along with rising star LJ Cason.
As a whole, Michigan basketball should be very deep and very talented next season. The biggest question mark appears to be the freshmen; while they're highly touted, the adjustment to college can be tough. But if they can carve out roles for themselves, the ceiling on this team could be a national championship. Next season should be a great one.
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