Michigan basketball is expecting big things from Roddy Gayle
Michigan basketball landed an impressive haul in the transfer portal this offseason. The Wolverines needed to overhaul almost their entire roster and just three players are returning from last season.
New head coach Dusty May said that Michigan basketball was going to be competitive this season and it looks like he has built a team that can not only compete to make the NCAA tournament, but also win the Big Ten.
A huge key to that is going to be 6-foot-4 guard Roddy Gayle who transferred to Michigan basketball from Ohio State. Last season, he averaged 13 points per game, four rebounds, and three assists for the Buckeyes.
Gayle did that even though he shot just 28 percent from 3-point range. If you look deeper, Gayle is actually a productive shooter or at least he has been. There were some injury concerns last season with a wrist and that probably didn't help but as a freshman, he shot 42.9 percent from deep.
Roddy Gayle can be a main player says Dusty May
Last season he shot more 3-pointers, which probably impacted his percentage too but he shot 83 percent at the free throw line. That was up from 81 percent two years ago. The former Buckeye also made 51 percent of his 2-point attempts and when you add in the playmaking, you can see why Dusty May and Michigan basketball believe so much in Gayle's ability.
"We think Roddy is naturally going to evolve into a main player and a guy that has a unique skill set," May told The Michigan Insider.
"… First and foremost, we believe in Roddy's jump shot. No, his percentage wasn't great last year for a number of reasons. He got caught in late shot clock several situations. They didn't have great cumulative level of shooting, so he didn't have as much space as hopefully we'll have, because hopefully our guys make shots. But he has the ability to get downhill, draw fouls. And we think he'll be a very good catch-and-shoot guy."
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Many Michigan basketball fans have said the Wolverines needed another dynamic guard but if Gayle can live up to being a "main player" U-M should be in good hands.