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Posted on by Drew Montag

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #26 – 04/07/2025 – Season Wrap-Up, Final Grades, And Looking Ahead

The (#14) University of Michigan men’s basketball 2024-2025 season is over.  They finished the season with a record of 27-10 (14-6 in Big Ten).  They finished tied for 2nd place in the regular season standings, won the Big Ten Tournament, and made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.

Season Wrap-Up

This season was a rousing success, far exceeding the expectations of most of the experts.  With a new head coach and coaching staff, and a mostly new roster, no one knew quite what to expect.  The previous season (2023-2024) was a miserable failure (8-24), and no one expected such a complete turnaround.

The two exhibition games gave us some idea of the firepower that Michigan had.  They beat Oakland 92-48 in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, then they beat Toledo 96-92 in Crisler Arena.  They beat Cleveland State 101-53 in Crisler Arena, then they took their first loss, 72-70, against Wake Forest in Greensboro, NC.  This was the first of three very close losses in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Next, they won three games in a row in Crisler Arena:  Texas Christian (TCU) 76-64, Miami (OH) 94-67, and Tarleton State 72-49.  They played in the Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament over the Thanksgiving break, and they won it by beating Virginia Tech (75-63) and (#22) Xavier (78-53).

Michigan won their two early-December Big Ten games, which was a huge boost.  In particular, they beat a very good (#11) Wisconsin team on the road, 67-64.  That was a huge win.  They followed it up with an important win over Iowa (85-83) in Crisler Arena.

Now for the bad news: Michigan had two good chances to knock off quality opponents on neutral courts, and they lost both games, but just barely.  They played in the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden against Arkansas, and they lost 89-87.  The next week, they played in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, NC, against (#14) Oklahoma, and they lost 87-86.

They had two more non-conference games against lesser opponents, both in Crisler Arena, and they won both of them easily: 89-58 against Purdue-Fort Wayne, and 112-64 against Western Kentucky.

So, Michigan entered 2025 with a non-conference record of 8-3, and a Big Ten record of 2-0.  They started the main part of the Big Ten schedule on the road, far from home, in Los Angeles.  This was the first time for Michigan to play USC and UCLA as conference games, and Michigan beat both of them!  They beat USC 85-74, then they beat (#22) UCLA 94-75.  These were two huge wins.  USC finished tied for 12th place in the Big Ten, so that win doesn’t look quite as impressive as it did at the time, but UCLA finished tied for 4th place, so that was a quality win.  Michigan State won the Big Ten regular season championship with a 17-3 record, and two of those losses were in Los Angeles, playing USC and UCLA back-to-back.

Michigan returned home from their West Coast swing, and played yet another of the new Big Ten teams, Washington, and they won handily, 91-75.  Things were looking great: they were undefeated (5-0) in the Big Ten, tied for 1st place, and they were playing their best basketball of the season.  A road game at last-place Minnesota?  No problem, right?  Wrong.  This was Michigan’s worst game of the season, and their only “bad loss”.  They didn’t take Minnesota seriously, and they let them hang around.  They went to overtime, and it looked like it was going to double overtime, but Minnesota hit a half-court buzzer-beater, and beat Michigan 84-81.  Ugh.

Back home again, facing lowly Northwestern, and Michigan hung on for a close 80-76 win.  Back on the road, at (#11) Purdue, where Michigan has had very little success over the years.  This was other Michigan’s “worst game of the season”.  Purdue came out of the gate on fire, and the game was essentially over by the second media timeout.  Purdue was up 29-9 at the 11:18 mark, and Michigan never got close the rest of the game.  The final was 91-64, Purdue.  It was a bloodbath.

Last season, that would have been it for Michigan, losing 2 out of 3 games, the second one by 27 points.  They would have gone through the motions for the rest of the season, and maybe snuck in one more win, but they would have been checked out.  Not this season.  Instead, they went on a 6-game winning streak, all by 4 points or less:

There are a couple noteworthy wins in there.  Oregon had been in the Top 25 for most of the season, but they had just dropped out of the Top 25 when they came to Ann Arbor.  By beating them, Michigan went 4-0 for the season against the four new West Coast additions to the Big Ten.  It always tough for Michigan to win at Indiana and Ohio State, so those were both big rivalry wins.  The biggest win of this stretch was beating Top-10 Purdue.  It was a great victory.

So, time for the homestretch.  At this point, Michigan was 12-2 in the Big Ten, all alone in 1st place, a half game ahead of (#14) Michigan State (12-3).  MSU had recently lost the two games mentioned above in Los Angeles, won a game, then lost to Indiana.  The battle for 1st place was in Crisler Arena, where Michigan was undefeated (12-0).  Michigan controlled the 1st half, and led 38-34 at halftime.  The 2nd half was a disaster, and MSU won handily, 75-62.

The loss to MSU seemed to shake Michigan’s confidence, and they just weren’t the same team for the rest of the regular season.  They managed to squeak out a truly ugly win at Nebraska, 49-46, and an almost-as-ugly win at home vs. Rutgers, 84-82, but they struggled in both games.  Look at the score of that Nebraska win: less than 100 points combined.  Michigan played a terrible game, but they were just slightly less terrible than Nebraska.  The home win vs. Rutgers was much closer than it should have been, and it took a miracle buzzer-beater to win it.

It all finally caught up with Michigan for the last three games of the regular season.  Michigan was still in the thick of the Big Ten title race, and if they could win 2 of the last 3 games, they would probably tie for the Big Ten regular season championship.  So, what did they do?  They lost all three games, and they weren’t particularly close.  They lost at home to Illinois on Senior Day (not the last home game, for some reason), 93-73, they lost at home to (#13) Maryland, 71-65, and they lost at (#8) Michigan State, 79-62.

So, the regular season was over, and it ended with a whimper, not a bang, for Michigan.  With those 3 losses, they finished tied with Maryland for 2nd place.  Due to the tiebreaker, Michigan was the #3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, and it sure looked like they weren’t going to win more than one game in the tournament.  Since they had one of the top 4 seeds, they didn’t play until Friday, and they had to play (#20) Purdue.  Yes, again.  Fortunately, the rubber match went to Michigan, as they beat Purdue easily, 86-68.  The semifinal game was on Saturday, against (#11) Maryland.  Yes, the same Maryland team that beat them 10 days before in Crisler Arena.  This was a close, exciting game, and Maryland up 80-79 with 5 seconds left.  Fortunately, Michigan had the ball, and Tre Donaldson went the length of the floor for the game-winning layup with 0.4 seconds left.  Michigan beat Maryland, 81-80.  It was very exciting.  The final game was on Sunday against (#18) Wisconsin, and it was also close and exciting.  It was all tied up (53-53) with 1:34 left, and Michigan scored the last 6 points to beat Wisconsin 59-53, and win the Big Ten Tournament Championship.

On to the NCAA Tournament.  Michigan was given a worse seed than they deserved (a 5-seed), but they managed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen anyway.  They played in the South Region of the tournament, and played their first two games in Denver.  They beat (12-seed)  UC San Diego 68-65, then they beat (4-seed) (#19) Texas A&M 91-79.  It was a big deal that Michigan made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and they went to Atlanta with hopes of an upset over the 1-seed (#4) Auburn.  Nope.  They played well for the first 28 minutes, and they had built a decent lead, 48-39, with 12:26 to go.  Then the roof fell in.  In the next 5 minutes, they gave up a 20-2 run, and that was it.  Auburn held them off the rest of the way, and won 78-65.  Season over.  Those 5 minutes cost them any chance of a magical ending.  It was a shame.

Still, it was a fun, successful season, much better than expected.  Michigan only had one “bad loss” (at Minnesota), a couple expected losses (at Purdue and at MSU), a few losses in “toss up” games on neutral courts (Wake Forest, Arkansas, and Oklahoma), and a few losses in “toss up” games at home (MSU, Illinois, and Maryland).  They had some great wins: the Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament, at Wisconsin, at USC, at UCLA, at Indiana, home vs. Purdue, at Ohio State, all 3 games in the Big Ten Tournament, and both wins in the NCAA Tournament.  Out of all those wins, the win at UCLA stands out.  That was the high point of the season.  Beating UCLA in Pauley Pavilion by 19 points is huge.

Final Grades

Here are my final grades, with the mid-term grades listed first:

Freshman Eligibility

  • Durral “Phat Phat” Brooks (C/C-) – Phat Phat got his chances to show what he can do, and he didn’t take advantage of them.  He played in 15 games, and scored 12 points.  He has plenty of potential, but he sure didn’t produce during his freshman season.
  • L.J. Cason (B/B+) – L.J. played the most of the three scholarship freshman, and he did pretty well.  He got better as the season went on, and he played important minutes in the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.  He played in 30 games, and scored 130 points.  He didn’t shoot particularly well: 42-for-114 (36.8%) overall, 15-for-61 (24.6%) from deep.  He’ll need to work on that.
  • Howard Eisley Jr. (Inc./Inc.) – Howard was on the Scout Team, and he didn’t play much.  He played in 3 games for 4 minutes, and he missed both of his shot attempts for the season.
  • Justin Pippen (B-/B-) – Justin played in a lot of games (28), but didn’t produce much.  He only scored 44 points, on mediocre shooting: 12-for-44 (27.3%) overall, 8-for-30 (26.7%) from deep.  He did a decent job as a point guard, and he was a capable defender.

Sophomore Eligibility

  • Harrison Hochberg (Inc./Inc.) – Harrison was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much.  He played in 6 games for 8 minutes, and scored 4 points.
  • Charlie May (Inc./Inc.) – Charlie was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much.  He played in 5 games for 6 minutes, and he didn’t attempt a shot.
  • Sam Walters (B-/B-) – Sam missed the last 13 games of the season, reportedly with a back injury.  He played in 23 games, and scored 114 points (5.0 points/game).  He shot pretty well: 37-for-87 (42.5%) overall, 26-for-71 (36.6%) from deep.

Junior Eligibility

  • Nimari Burnett (B/B+) – Nimari was a steady-but-not-flashy presence on the team this season.  He started all 37 games, and scored 347 points (9.4 points/game).  He was the best 3-point shooter on the team: 66-for-165 (40.0%).
  • Tre Donaldson (A/A) – Tre had several very good games, several good games, and a couple duds.  Still, he was a leader out there, and he ran the offense very well.  He started all 37 games, and scored 419 points (11.3 points/game).  He led the team in assists (151), against 81 turnovers, which is not a bad ratio.
  • Roddy Gayle Jr. (B+/B) – Roddy had a few very good games, several good games, and a few duds.  He missed one game with an injury, and started 25 games (Rubin Jones started in his place for the other 12 games).  He scored 354 points (9.8 points/game).  He’s a ferocious rebounder for his size (124 rebounds), and he dished out 79 assists.
  • Will Tschetter (B/B) – Will did a nice job coming off the bench and giving the team a spark.  He often played (small) center, and he held his own.  He played in all 37 games, and scored 235 points (6.4 points/game).  He was the leading scorer among the bench players.
  • Danny Wolf (A/A) – Danny was the biggest surprise on the team this season.  He was very good at Yale, but he blossomed into a weapon at Michigan.  He started all 37 games, and scored 489 points (13.2 points/game).  He was the leading rebounder on the team (360).  He was 2nd on the team in assists, with 132.  Not bad for a 7-footer.  He often brought the ball upcourt in transition, and he played “point center” quite often.  He ran a mean pick-and-roll game with Goldin.  On the downside, he occasionally got a little too “creative” (crazy) with the ball, and he led the team in turnovers by a wide margin (120).

Senior/Grad Eligibility

  • Ian Burns (Inc./Inc.) – Ian was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much.  He played in 7 games for 9 minutes, and missed both of his shot attempts, both 3-point attempts.
  • Vladislav Goldin (A/A) – Vlad started the season slow, but he got better as the season went on.  He started all 37 games, and scored 615 points (16.6 points/game).  He was the leading scorer on the team, and he had the best shooting percentage (222-for-366 = 60.7%).  He was the 2nd leading rebounder on the team (260), and the leading shot blocker (51).
  • Jace Howard (C-/D) – Jace is a scholarship player, but he got playing time as if he were on the Scout Team.  He played in 5 games for 19 minutes, and he scored 4 points.
  • Rubin Jones (B-/B) – Rubin was the most disappointing of the transfer players this season.  He played in 33 games, and started 12 of them in place of Roddy Gayle Jr.  He scored 118 points (3.6 points/game).

Awards

Here are my awards for this season’s team:

  • Most Valuable Player: Vlad Goldin.  This was a really close decision between Goldin and Wolf, but Goldin was a little more consistent and a little less sloppy with the ball.
  • Most Improved Player: Nimari Burnett.  He played pretty well last season, but he kicked it up a notch this season.
  • Best Defensive Player: Tre Donaldson.  He led the team in steals, and he did a good job guarding the main guard on the opposing team most of the season.
  • Sixth Man: Will Tschetter.  He won this last season as well.  He often played (small) center, but he can also play either forward position.

Looking Ahead

How do you “look ahead” in the era of NIL and the Transfer Portal?  It’s all just a guess.  Who is going to return next season?  Who is going to enter the Transfer Portal?  Who is going to declare for the NBA Draft?  Who is Coach May going to pick up in the Transfer Portal?  Will all the incoming freshmen really show up?  So many variables.  Here are my best guesses, at this point:

Who Is Graduating/Out Of Eligibility?

This part is easy.  The following 2 players are out of eligibility:

  • Vlad Goldin – We will really miss him.  He was the backbone of the offense this season, and a pretty good defender.
  • Rubin Jones – He had his moments, but he also had many forgettable games.

Who Has Already Entered The Transfer Portal?

The following 4 players have already entered the Transfer Portal:

  • Tre Donaldson – This is a huge loss.  He was a very valuable part of the team, and he will be missed.  He has already committed to playing at Miami (FL) next season.
  • Jace Howard – He didn’t get to play much this season, after playing a lot earlier in his career.  I can see why he’s disillusioned.  He should be able to find a team where he can contribute more.
  • Justin Pippen – It isn’t clear why he would want to leave.  He got to play quite a bit, and he appeared to have a bright future at Michigan.
  • Sam Walters – He is replaceable, but it would have been nice to keep him.  I suspected something was up when he stopped playing after February 8th.  His back injury shouldn’t have kept him out for almost 2 months.

Who Might Enter The Transfer Portal?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Phat Phat Brooks enter the Transfer Portal.  He didn’t get much chance to play this season, and he could be a mainstream player at a smaller school.

Who May Declare For The NBA Draft?

The only player with eligibility who might realistically declare for the NBA Draft is Danny Wolf.  He is currently projected as a late 1st round pick.  It’s hard to turn down an offer like that, but there is a rumor that Michigan might offer him $2.5 million in NIL money to stay.  We’ll see.

Who Does That Leave As Returning Players?

After all the announced and potential departures listed above, who does that leave?  The following 6 mainstream players could be back next season:

  • Phat Phat Brooks – As I said above, it wouldn’t surprise me if he enters the Transfer Portal.  If he comes back, he’ll need to have quite a “sophomore jump”.
  • Nimari Burnett – He hasn’t said one way or the other if he’ll return, but it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll enter the Transfer Portal, so his choices are to return for one final season or quit playing college basketball.  He isn’t considered an NBA prospect, but he could decide to try to play internationally.
  • L.J. Cason – He has hinted that he’ll be back next season.
  • Roddy Gayle Jr. – He has definitely said that he’ll be back next season.
  • Will Tschetter – He has definitely said that he’ll be back next season.
  • Danny Wolf – As I said above, he could enter the NBA Draft, or he could stay at Michigan for another year and a lot of NIL $$$.

Who Has Coach May Already Picked Up From The Transfer Portal?

Coach May has already picked up 3 players from the Transfer Portal:

  • Elliot Cadeau – He is the replacement for Tre Donaldson at starting point guard.  He was the starting point guard for North Carolina this season.  He played for 2 years at UNC, so he’ll have junior eligibility next season.  He’s 6’1” tall, and weighs 180 pounds.
  • Morez Johnson Jr. – He played his freshman season at Illinois, so he’ll have sophomore eligibility next season.  He’s 6’9” tall, and weighs 255 pounds.
  • Yaxel Lendeborg – He played for 2 years in junior college (Arizona Western) and 2 years at UAB, so he’s a graduate transfer, with one year of eligibility left.  He is currently in the NBA Draft, but it isn’t clear if he will stay in the draft or come to Michigan.  He was the #1 player in the Transfer Portal.  He’s 6’9” tall, and weighs 240 pounds.  He’s an obvious power forward.

Who Might Coach May Pick Up From The Transfer Portal?

There are rumors that Coach May is actively pursuing Aday Mara, a 7’3” center who played his first two seasons at UCLA.  He’s currently in the Transfer Portal.  He would be a great replacement for Vlad Goldin.

Who Are The Incoming Freshmen?

There are currently 3 incoming freshmen committed to Michigan for next season:

  • Oscar Goodman – He’s from New Zealand, where he played on the various national teams in international competition.  He enrolled early (January 2025), so he was on the team for most of the season, but could only practice with the team, not play.  He’s 6’7” tall, and weighs 220 pounds.
  • Winters Grady – He’s a 4-star small forward, with a nice shooting touch.  He’s 6’6” tall, and weighs 200 pounds.
  • Trey McKenney – He’s a 5-star guard, and the highest ranked of Michigan’s recruits.  He was Mr. Basketball in Michigan this season, and he looks to be the shooting guard of the future at Michigan.  He’s 6’4” tall, and weighs 225 pounds.

What’s Next?

Check back in late October for the next season of Michigan basketball.

Go Blue!

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