BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEW #6 MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Dusty May had one of the best seasons of any head coach in college basketball last year. In just his first year as the head coach, Michigan finished with a 27-10 record, won a Big Ten tournament title, and made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan loses its top three scorers from last year's team, but they bring in one of the best transfer classes in college basketball.

Projected Lineup:

G Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina transfer)

G Nimari Burnett

G Roddy Gayle Jr.

F Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB transfer)

F Morez Johnson (Illinois transfer)

Michigan State's backcourt next season should be among the best in the Big Ten Conference. They brought in 6-foot-2 UNC transfer Elliot Cadeau to play the point guard position. Cadeau was one of the most highly coveted transfer guards available. He started in all 37 games last season and averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 assists per game last year. On top of that, Michigan returns two of its starting guards from last season in 6-foot-4 Nimari Burnett and 6-foot-4 Roddy Gayle Jr. Burnett started in all 37 games for Michigan last year; he averaged 9.4 points and 3.5 boards, shooting 40 percent from three. Roddy Gayle Jr. started in 25 of his 36 games last year and averaged 9.8 points per game. 6-foot-2 combo guard LJ Cason is another returning player who was also a part of Michigan's rotation last season. In his freshman season, Cason averaged 4.3 points in 11.8 minutes per game. Michigan also brought in 6-foot-4 combo guard Trey McKenney as a part of their 2025 recruiting class. McKenney is the #21 player in the class by 247Sports. He should have an immediate impact during his freshman season.

Michigan's frontcourt will be led by 6-foot-9 UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg. Lendeborg was arguably the top transfer available in the portal and was a huge get for Michigan. He averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds while also winning the defensive player of the year in the American Athletic Conference. Lendeborg is one of the most complete players in all of college basketball. 6-foot-9 Illinois transfer Morez Johnson was another huge get out of the portal for Dusty May. Johnson was one of the best freshman forwards in the Big Ten Conference last year. He averaged 7 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 64.2 percent from the field. 7-foot-3 UCLA transfer Aday Mara is another intriguing player in Michigan's frontcourt. Mara averaged 6.4 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in just 13.1 minutes per contest last season.

This year's Michigan team should be one of the better teams in the Big Ten conference. They're led by arguably the best player in the conference, Yaxel Lendeborg. Morez Johnson is another guy who could have a monster season next year. If there's any reason for concern next year for Michigan, it would be their backcourt. They don't really have any guard that's proven themself to be a top-scoring option. But with the amount of depth they have at the guard position, it shouldn't be too concerning.

Prediction: 2nd in Big Ten