Another FAU player, expected Michigan basketball target enters transfer portal

It took nearly two weeks after Michigan basketball hired Dusty May as head coach but the three All-Conference players for FAU last season have all entered the transfer portal.

Vlad Goldin, the 7-foot center was the first former Owls player to leave the program after the departure of May for Michigan basketball. Johnell Davis followed suit this week and on Saturday, Alijah Martin entered the portal with a no-contact tag.

Martin averaged 13.1 points per game last season. He shot 33.8 percent from 3-point range but that was on 6.1 3-point shots per game. He also made 2.1 treys per game. Martin averaged 2.0 3-point makes per game in 2022-23 and shot 37.2 percent. His career 3-point percentage is 36.9.

Like Goldin and Davis, Martin has strong ties to Michigan basketball thanks to Dusty May, who recruited and coached Martin for the last four seasons. Martin and other FAU players could have left FAU for the transfer portal last offseason but didn't. Some of that had to be loyalty to Dusty May and if the Wolverines are competitive with NIL, it seems like a perfect match.

My biggest concern with all three guys is Michigan basketball not having the NIL to compete with other programs. Dusty May said he's going to work on NIL and try to raise funds but if Louisville (Johnell Davis), UConn (Danny Wolf), or other programs Michigan is competing with have more to offer that will make it tough.

But Martin at least had a good idea of where he was going before he entered the portal. That should be good news for the Wolverines. Martin knows how he fits within May's system and Michigan basketball would offer a bigger stage in the Big Ten. Heck, it's a blue-blood program when everything is firing on all cylinders. Adding Martin, Goldin, and Davis would make that happen right away.

Hopefully, Dusty May can get it done.