Michigan basketball fans have had a rough week. Just two months after winning the national championship, head coach Dusty May bolted for the NBA.
That took some of the shine off the stellar performance in the NBA draft this week by the Wolverines, who had three players selected in the NBA draft lottery.
That closes the chapter on the 2025-26 Michigan basketball team. Now, it's all about looking ahead under the interim head coach Mike Boynton.
Elliot Cadeau is staying at Michigan, per his agent Drew Gross.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 26, 2026
Massive news for the Wolverines.
Boynton was hired, in large part, to keep the roster together. If all of the players stick around, it's still one of the best rosters in college basketball. But that's a big if.
Elliot Cadeau on Instagram: "I bleed blue #HAILTHEVICTORS", announcing he plans to stay at Michigan. pic.twitter.com/raeJlG59c5
— Dylan Burkhardt (@umhoops) June 26, 2026
Trey McKenney told the Detroit News earlier this week that he was coming back. He confirmed that again on Thursday with a post on social media. That came right after Elliot Cadeau, the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four last season, posted on Instagram that he "bleeds blue" and wouldn't be playing anywhere else.
McKenney posted "Go Blue" after that, so Michigan basketball fans can feel good about the fact that the Wolverines projected starting backcourt has remained intact.
The return of Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney is massive for Michigan, but there is work to do
Michigan would be up a creek without a paddle if it lost McKenney or Cadeau. There just isn't a way to replace either player, even if L.J. Cason can come back sooner than expected.
However, Michigan is in the same boat with transfer bigs Moustapha Thiam and J.P. Estrella. Both players were new to the program and Dusty May is the biggest reason they committed to be in Ann Arbor in the first place.
They have to wait until late July to enter the transfer portal. It's hard to know what the market would be, but Thiam is viewed as a potential future lottery pick. It feels like there would be some bidders for him if he entered the portal. The same goes for Estrella,
You also have to wonder about five-star guard Brandon McCoy, although Boynton played a key role in recruiting, so the hope is he can keep all of them together. If he can, there's a good chance the Wolverines will be one of the best teams in the Big Ten.
If not, there could be a drastic drop-off, because any player Michgan loses will be difficult to replace at this late hour of the offseason.
Add us as a preferred source on Google