Note: Sorry this article is later than the normal Monday morning publication. I’ve been away from decent Internet coverage (European river cruise) for almost two weeks. I couldn’t watch this week’s game, but I did follow it live via a stats app.
The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one (exhibition) game this past week, and they won it. On Sunday (10/20/2024), they beat Oakland 92-48 in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Since it was only an exhibition game, Michigan’s record is still 0-0.
What Happened?
As I say every year after an exhibition game, it’s hard to tell much about the team after an exhibition game. Coach May tried plays and player combinations we may never see again. Still, a few things were obvious:
Michigan has a lot of depth and talent this season.
Coach May can devise many interesting combinations of players.
Michigan isn’t afraid to shoot 3-pointers.
Michigan never trailed in the game, although Oakland did hang around in the early going. Michigan led 7-2 at the 15:40 mark, but Oakland got within 3 points (10-7) with 13:57 to go. Michigan started pulling away at this point, and got the lead up to 12 points (24-12) at the 11:07 mark. Oakland got within 6 points (26-20) with 8:09 to go, then Michigan pulled away for good. They got the lead up to 22 points at halftime (48-26), and never let Oakland get closer than 20 points during the 2nd half. They steadily pushed the lead into the 30s, then the 40s, winning by 44 points. It was a solid win.
Stats
The game stats were pretty good. Michigan shot well overall (34-for-69 = 49.3%), they shot 3-pointers well (15-for-35 = 42.9%), but they shot free throws poorly (9-for-18 = 50.0%). They won the rebounding battle (52-33) and the turnover battle (14-15). They won this game with good shooting and rebounding. It also helped that Oakland had a miserable night shooting 3-pointers: 2-for-30 = 6.7%
Will Tschetter was the leading scorer, off the bench, with 15 points on good shooting: 6-for-8 overall, 1-for-1 from deep. All that in just 15 minutes of playing time!
Gayle had a good game, with 13 points on good shooting: 5-for-8 overall, 2-for-3 from deep. He also had 4 assists. I couldn’t tell from the limited information in the stats app how much of the time Gayle played point guard.
Wolf had a good game as well, with 11 points and 13 rebounds, for a solid “double-double”. He shot well: 3-for-6 overall, 2-for-4 from deep. It’s great having a 7-footer who can shoot 3-pointers. It pulls the opposing big men out to the perimeter, opening up the lane for driving to the hoop.
Goldin also had 11 points, and also shot well: 5-for-8 overall. Many of his shots were dunks.
Donaldson almost hit double figures, with 9 points. He didn’t shoot quite as well as the other 3 starters mentioned above: 3-for-7 overall, 1-for-4 from deep. He did have a team high 6 assists.
Jones had a decent game, with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Sam Walters was the 5th Michigan player in double figures, with 12 points, off the bench. He was Michigan’s leading 3-point shooter, going 4-for-6 from deep. He only took 3-point attempts.
L.J. Cason didn’t quite hit double figures, with 8 points. He didn’t shoot particularly well (3-for-8 overall, 2-for-5 from deep), but he did have 5 rebounds.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
Nimari Burnett had 6 points, off the bench, on lousy shooting: 2-for-8 overall, all 3-pointers. He made his first 3-pointer, missed 6 in a row, then made his last 3-pointer late in the game. Without his 2-for-8 contribution, Michigan shot 13-for-27 (48.1%) from deep.
Ian Burns played in the final minute, and didn’t attempt a shot.
Howard Eisley Jr. played in the final minute, and didn’t attempt a shot.
Harrison Hochberg played in the final minute, but missed both his shot attempts.
Charlie May played in the final minute, but missed his only shot attempt.
Who Didn’t Play?
Everyone who wasn’t injured played at least 1 minute. The injured players are: Jace Howard and Justin Pippen.
What Does It Mean?
It’s hard to tell much about a team after one exhibition game. Oakland certainly wasn’t as good as their NCAA Tournament team from last season, so it’s hard to tell how good Michigan is yet.
What’s Next?
This week, Michigan plays only one game, another exhibition. On Friday (10/25/2024, 7:30 p.m., BTN) they play Toledo in Crisler Arena. It is rare for Michigan to play two exhibition games in a season.
Toledo was 20-12 last season, 14-4 in the MAC. They beat some decent teams (Louisiana, Wright State, and Oakland), but they lost in the 1st round of the MAC tournament and didn’t play in the post-season. They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they have a little height: two 6’10” guys. This is a game that Michigan should win, but you never know with a new team with lots of new players. Team chemistry goes a long way, and this team may need some time to develop that chemistry.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why.
Yeah, it’s time for college basketball again. Basketball games start this week. Let’s check out this season’s team.
Here’s my traditional standard description of this weekly column:
Yeah, it’s time for University of Michigan men’s basketball, and this is the place to read all about it: “Nothing But ‘Net” on UMGoBlue.com. Check back every Monday morning between now and the end of the season for a quick, concise wrap-up of the previous week, and a look ahead at the upcoming week, all in one easy-to-read article.
As always here at UMGoBlue.com, the perspective is “by fans, for fans”. I’m a fan (since 1974), and I go to all the home games, and watch/listen to all the away games. I don’t have any special access (other than being an usher in Sections 209-210), I don’t go to the press conferences, and I don’t interview high school recruits. I see the same things you do, and write about them as a fan.
This is my 25th year writing this column, and I can easily say that this season is the hardest to predict. I’ve never seen so much change in so many places! New coach and coaching staff, almost entirely new team, and four more teams in the Big Ten conference, all at the same time. Yikes!
Executive Summary
The big question: how good is Michigan going to be this season?
The big answer: who knows? There have been way too many changes to make a decent prediction. My hunch is that Michigan will be better than last season (not too hard to do), and probably middle of the pack in the new Big Ten, but that’s just a guess.
What’s New?
A better question is: “What isn’t new?” As I mentioned above, a new coach and coaching staff, almost entirely new roster, and four new teams in the Big Ten. Let’s take them in that order.
New Coach And Coaching Staff
When I wrote my last article (03/25/2024), Michigan had fired Juwan Howard and hired Dusty May. At that time, I said that I thought this was a good hire, and based on what he’s accomplished since he was hired, I think this is a very good hire. He has worked very hard to build what looks like a solid, competitive roster (more about that below) and hire a promising staff of assistant coaches. They are:
There are lots of changes to the roster from last season:
Players Leaving:
4 seniors/grad students graduated
6 players transferred
Players Arriving:
4 incoming freshman
7 incoming transfer players
Graduating Seniors/Grad Students
Four players from last season “graduated”. Three of them were grad transfers/grad students:
Tray Jackson – Tray provided some scoring and rebounding off the bench, but he only showed flashes of what he was capable of, then he disappeared. He averaged 5.0 points/game on decent shooting: 45-for-113 overall (39.8%) and 9-for-37 from deep (24.3%). He won’t be missed much.
Jaelin Llewellyn – Jaelin missed the first 7 games with a knee injury, and he missed a few more games due to illness, so he only played in 20 games. He started in place of McDaniel during McDaniel’s 6-game road suspension, and those were some of Llewellyn’s best games. He averaged 5.2 points/game on pretty good shooting: 35-for-92 overall (38.0%) and 19-for-47 from deep (40.4%). He had more turnovers (31) than assists (23), which is not good for a point guard. He won’t be missed much.
Olivier Nkamhoua – Olivier was the second most valuable player on the team, after Dug McDaniel. He played a lot of power forward and a bit of (small) center. He played hard in every game, and he delivered. Unfortunately, he injured his left (non-shooting) wrist in early January, and played hurt for the next 13 games, finally giving up and missing the last 6 games. Still, he ended up second on the team in scoring average (14.8 points/game), and second in rebounding (7.1 rebounds/game). He shot well: 154-for-301 (51.2%) overall, 27-for-81 (33.3%) from deep. He did lead the team in turnovers, with 73. He will definitely be missed.
The only true senior on the team was Jackson Selvala, and he was a lightly used member of the Scout Team.
Players Who Transferred
Six players transferred to other schools after last season. They are:
Dug McDaniel – Dug was probably the most valuable player on Michigan’s roster last season. He’s fast, he’s a great dribbler, he shot well, and he ran the offense pretty well. He was a warrior out there. He will be sorely missed. He transferred to Kansas State, where I expect him to be a star. He will be sorely missed.
Terrance Williams II – Terrance was very inconsistent for his first 3 years at Michigan, but he had his best season as a senior. He transferred to USC for his “COVID year”. He will be missed.
Youssef Khayat – Youssef showed occasional flashes of competence, surrounded by long stretches of mediocrity. He transferred to Bowling Green. He probably won’t be missed.
Tarris Reed Jr. – Tarris was the closest thing Michigan had to a center last season, but he is really a power forward who was forced to play center. He did a decent job, but for every game where he was effective, there was a game where he was unplayable. He transferred to (defending National Champion) Connecticut, where I expect him to do well, especially if they let him play power forward. He will be missed.
George Washington III – George had a rough freshman season at Michigan. He didn’t play very much, and he played poorly when he got his chances. He transferred to Richmond, where he might turn into a useful player. He won’t be missed.
At the end of last season, only one freshman (Durral “Phat Phat” Brooks) was planning to play at Michigan this season, but Coach May rounded up three more. Now, there are four freshmen on the roster:
L.J. Cason #2 (6’2”, 190 pounds, G) – L.J. previously committed to Florida Atlantic and Coach May. When Coach May was hired by Michigan, L.J. followed him. He’s a 3-star point guard, a good ball-handler, a decent defender, and a good shooter and scorer. With several other (more experienced) point guards on the team, he won’t play much this season, but he will learn and grow.
Howard Eisley Jr. #5 (6’0”, 195 pounds, G) – Howard is a walk-on, with very little information about him on the web. We do know that his father (Howard Eisley) was an assistant coach at Michigan under Juwan Howard, so there are obviously no hard feelings about the coaching change. As a walk-on, Howard will undoubtedly be on the Scout Team.
Durral “Phat Phat” Brooks #8 (6’2”, 190 pounds, G) – Phat Phat was Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan last year. He’s a 3-star combo guard, a good defender, and a good shooter and scorer. With many other point guards on the team, he will play mostly shooting guard this season. With many other shooting guards on the team, he may not play that much this season. We’ll have to wait and see.
Justin Pippen #10 (6’3”, 180 pounds, G) – Justin is indeed the younger son of Hall Of Fame NBA player Scottie Pippen. He’s a 4-star combo guard, a decent defender, and a pretty good shooter and scorer. Once again, with all the other point guards on the team, he will be used mainly as a shooting guard. Also once again, with all the other shooting guards on the team, he may not play that much this season.
Incoming Transfer Players
With ten players leaving the team (four to graduation, six to the Transfer Portal), and only four incoming freshmen, Coach May had to work the Transfer Portal hard to fill out the roster. He was very successful, getting seven players:
Danny Wolf #1 (7’0”, 250 pounds, F/C) – Danny transferred to Michigan from Yale, where he played for two seasons, leaving him with two seasons of eligibility. He was all-league at Yale, where he averaged 9.5 points/game and 6.7 rebounds/game. He will be the backup center, behind Vlad Goldin (below), but he might also play power forward alongside Goldin, giving Michigan an imposing Twin Towers look.
Tre Donaldson #3 (6’3”, 195 pounds, G) – Tre transferred to Michigan from Auburn, where he played for two seasons, leaving him with two seasons of eligibility. He will probably be the starting point guard. He’s not much of a scorer, but he’s a pretty good shooter when he does take a shot. He’s a good defender, and a good ball-handler.
Roddy Gayle Jr. #11 (6’5”, 205 pounds, G) – Roddy transferred to Michigan from Ohio State (seriously?), where he played for two seasons, leaving him with two seasons of eligibility. He was a starter at OSU last season, averaging 13.5 points/game and 4.6 rebounds/game. He will probably play quite a bit, mostly as a shooting guard, with some time at backup point guard.
Charlie May #12 (6’5”, 190 pounds, G) – Charlie transferred to Michigan from Central Florida (UCF), where he played for one season (after voluntarily redshirting his freshman year), leaving him with three seasons of eligibility. He is indeed the younger son of Michigan head coach Dusty May. He didn’t play much in his one season at UCF, where he started his career as a walk-on. I suspect he will be on the Scout Team, at least this season.
Rubin Jones #15 (6’5”, 190 pounds, G) – Rubin transferred to Michigan from North Texas, where he played for four seasons and graduated, leaving him with one (COVID) season of eligibility. He averaged 12.1 points/game and 3.6 rebounds/game his senior year at North Texas. He’s good defender, a pretty good shooter, and he can even play some point guard. He will probably play quite a bit, mostly as a shooting guard, with some time at backup point guard.
Sam Walters #24 (6’10”, 200 pounds, F) – Sam transferred to Michigan from Alabama, where he played for one season, leaving him with three seasons of eligibility. He played quite a bit at Alabama for a true freshman, and averaged 5.4 points/game on pretty good shooting. On a team with two 7-foot-plus centers and a bunch of 6’2” guards, he’s one of the few true forwards. He’s a little light for a 6’10” forward in the Big Ten, and I expect him to get pushed around inside, but I expect him to figure that out and adapt.
Vladislav Goldin #50 (7’1”, 250 pounds, C) – Vlad transferred to Michigan from Florida Atlantic, where he played for Michigan head coach Dusty May. He played one season at Texas Tech, then three seasons at Florida Atlantic, leaving him with one (COVID) season of eligibility. He is the player I’m the most excited about on the team. Regular readers of this column will know how much I value a 7-foot-plus center. He may not be the second coming of Hunter Dickinson, but he is a battle-tested solid player, and I think he’s going to do just fine in the bruising Big Ten.
Who’s Coming Back?
Along with all the subtractions and additions to the team listed above, there are actually five players returning from last season’s team:
Sophomore Eligibility
Harrison Hochberg #13 (6’7”, 220 pounds, F) – Harrison was on the Scout Team last season, and he didn’t play much. I expect more of the same this season. Note: He switched his number from last season (31) to this season (13).
Junior Eligibility
Nimari Burnett #4 (6’5”, 200 pounds, G) – Nimari transferred to Michigan from Alabama last season, and decided to come back this season. He has two seasons of eligibility left (one regular and one COVID). He’s a combo guard, but he probably won’t play much point guard with all the other point guards on the team.
Will Tschetter #42 (6’8”, 230 pounds, F) – Will was probably the most improved player on last season’s team. He didn’t do much his freshman season, but last season he averaged 6.8 points/game on good shooting. He’s one of the few forwards on the roster.
Senior Eligibility
Ian Burns #14 (6’6”, 205 pounds, G) – Ian is on the Scout Team. He played in 2 games as a freshman, 3 games as a sophomore, and 11 games as a junior. He has attempted nine shots, but hasn’t made one yet. He does have 3 points on free throws.
Jace Howard #7 (6’8”, 225 pounds, G) – Jace has played for 4 seasons, but thanks to the COVID-19 rule he still has one year of eligibility. He is another example of “no hard feelings” about the coaching change, since his father is Juwan Howard. He has played a lot, but hasn’t scored much. He’s mostly a defensive specialist. He’s one of the few forwards on the roster. Note: He switched his number from last season (25) to this season (7).
Starting Lineup/Depth Chart
This is really tricky this season, with all the new players. My guess:
Point guard: Donaldson (backups: Gayle, Jones, Burnett, and Cason)
Shooting guard: Gayle (backups: Jones, Donaldson, Burnett, Brooks, and Pippen)
Small forward: Jones (backups: Tschetter and Howard)
Power forward: Walters (backups: Wolf, Tschetter, and Howard)
Center: Goldin (backup: Wolf)
I’ve never seen a roster with so many point guards and shooting guards! On the other hand, Michigan really needs another small forward/wing or two. The power forward and center positions look solid.
Four New Teams In The Big Ten
Why is it even called the Big Ten any more? It’s the Big Eighteen now. With the addition of four more teams, all from the old Pac-12, the Big Ten is even more competitive in all sports, including men’s basketball. The new teams are: Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC.
Last Season
From last season’s Wrap-Up article (lightly edited):
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: this was a terrible season for Michigan, possibly their worst ever. It was certainly the worst season I’ve witnessed in my 50 years of following Michigan basketball.
Michigan started the season with 3 wins, and it looked like they might be better than expected. Then the losing started, and they never looked promising again. They started out losing close games, within a couple points in the final 2 minutes. Then they started a different trend: building up a nice double-digit lead, then blowing the game in the 2nd half. Finally, they just got blown out and never stood a chance. Here are the three trends:
Losing the close games: Long Beach State, Memphis, Oregon, Indiana, Florida.
Building up a decent lead, then blowing the game in the 2nd half: Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland (away), Iowa (away), Michigan State (away), Rutgers (home).
Getting blown out: Illinois (home and away), Purdue (home and away), Nebraska (home and away), Rutgers (away), Ohio State (away).
The win against Ohio State (73-65) on 01/15/2024 was very satisfying. The rivalry isn’t as big in basketball, but it’s still great to beat OSU in anything.
The win against St. John’s (89-73) on 11/13/2023 in Madison Square Garden as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games was very impressive. St. John’s ended up being a “bubble team” for the Big Dance, although they didn’t get in.
There were too many “bad losses” to list them.
So, what went wrong? Several things, but the biggest problem was an undersized roster with not enough talent. I don’t think John Wooden himself could have coached this roster to a 0.500 record. When I evaluate a roster, I start at both ends: point guard and center. The guards, wings, and forwards are all important, but without a solid point guard and center, they don’t matter that much. Michigan had a solid point guard in Dug McDaniel, but the starting center (Tarris Reed, Jr.) was undersized and playing out of position. Reed would be a good-but-not-great power forward, but he’s not a Big Ten center. Worse news: Michigan didn’t really have a backup center this season. Other Big Ten teams had a 7-footer or two, with a couple 6’10” or 6’11” guys to back them up. Michigan had Reed and … crickets. Will Tschetter tried his hand at center, but he’s not tall enough or big enough to play against the big boys. Before he missed the last six games of the season with an injury, Olivier Nkamhoua also took a turn at center, but he’s also not tall enough for the role. He is big enough to bang in there, but he routinely gave up 4-6 inches in height. So, Michigan’s opponents saw that the middle wasn’t guarded very well, and they drove to the hoop more often than I’ve ever seen, and it worked.
What about guards/wings/forwards? Once again, Michigan was constrained by a lack of talent. There was no one on the roster that was the “go to” player. There was no one who you could count on to make the clutch shot. There was no one who was a consistent threat from 3-point range. All of the starters had some good games, and when a couple of them had good games at the same time, Michigan got one of their rare wins, but it didn’t happen nearly often enough.
The final piece in the roster disaster was the bench. Michigan got very little bench scoring in many of their games, and so the starters played lots of minutes, which got them tired out in the 2nd half of the games, and wore them down as the season droned on.
What about coaching? Well, I’m sure coaching played a part in the dismal failure of the season, but I still think most of it was due to an undersized and undertalented roster. Regardless, (now former) head coach Juwan Howard was fired on 03/15/2024. Now, you can certainly blame part of the roster disaster on Howard, but only part of it. When it came to roster construction, Howard was working with one hand tied behind his back. With the way the infamous Transfer Portal works these days, recruiting has taken a back seat to building a team from the portal. Unfortunately, Michigan isn’t in the top tier for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) opportunities, and Michigan’s admission policies have led a few talented transfers to look elsewhere.
Howard was actually a pretty good recruiter, but his most talented recruits either left for the NBA Draft or transferred to another school after 1-2 years. The recruiting class for this season was one incoming freshman (George Washington III), and he didn’t work out. Howard brought in three players from the Transfer Portal for this season (Nimari Burnett, Olivier Nkamhoua, and Tray Jackson), and they were decent, but they weren’t enough.
This Season
Let’s look at Michigan’s schedule for this season.
This is a much tougher non-conference schedule than usual, with several big-name opponents: Wake Forest, TCU, Virginia Tech, South Carolina/Xavier, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Michigan will be doing well to go 3-3 in these games.
The other non-conference games (Cleveland State, Miami-OH, Tarleton State, Purdue-Fort Wayne, and Western Kentucky) all look winnable.
The first two games of 2025 are out in LA vs. USC and UCLA. I’m impressed that the Big Ten scheduled these two games together, so Michigan can fly out once and play both games. The other two West Coast teams are both coming to Ann Arbor this season.
Each Big Ten team plays 14 teams once (7 home/7 away) and 3 teams twice, for a total of 20 games. This season, Michigan plays:
Once: Wisconsin (away), Iowa (home), USC (away), UCLA (away), Washington (home), Minnesota (away), Northwestern (home), Penn State (home), Oregon (home), Indiana (away), Ohio State (away), Nebraska (away), Illinois (home), Maryland (home).
Twice: Purdue, Rutgers, Michigan State.
Given the preseason predictions, Michigan should be happy about playing Iowa, Illinois, and Maryland at home.
Given the preseason predictions, Michigan should be unhappy about:
Playing Purdue, Rutgers, and Michigan State twice. They’re all predicted to finish in the top 4 in the Big Ten this season.
Playing away games vs. UCLA, Indiana, and Ohio State.
Expectations
Normally, I like to divide the games up into 3 categories (“Should Win”, “Should Lose”, and “Toss Up”), but with all the roster changes, I have no idea any more. Looking at the schedule, I hope that Michigan wins all 5 of their “less challenging” non-conference games, goes 3-3 in their “more challenging” non-conference games, and goes 10-10 in the Big Ten. That would work out to a final regular season record of 18-13, which might be enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament. I think the ceiling for this team is 21-12, and the floor is 13-18.
This Week
This week, Michigan only plays one game. On Sunday (10/20/2025, 5:00 p.m., BTN+) they play Oakland in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. This is an exhibition game.
Oakland was 24-12 (15-5 in the Horizon League) last season. They won the Horizon League Tournament, and went to the NCAA Tournament, where they upset the #3 seed, Kentucky. They lost to the #11 seed, NC State, in the next round, but still… They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they don’t have much height: one 6’9” guy. This should be a very challenging exhibition game.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why. My article might be a couple days late, since I’m expecting to be away from Internet coverage for a few days.
Yeah, it’s me, the “basketball guy”, back for more. It’s time for my annual attempt to predict how the University of Michigan’s football season is going to go.
Last Season (2023)
My Prediction: 11-1 (8-1 in Big Ten)
Actual Results: 12-0 (9-0 in Big Ten)
Comments: I predicted that we’d lose to Ohio State, and I was glad to be wrong.
This Season (2024)
My Prediction: 10-2 (8-1 in Big Ten)
Comments: This is a really tough season to predict. On the one hand, Michigan went 15-0 last season, winning the CFP National Championship. On the other hand, the starting quarterback, the starting running back, and the head coach have all left, along with many other key components in last season’s magic. On the other other hand, the new head coach has some valuable experience as interim head coach, and the new starting running back has some valuable experience as the substitute starter. On the other other other hand, all the potential starting quarterbacks have serious strengths, weaknesses, and question marks.
So, with all those “other hands” in mind, I’m predicting that Michigan will lose one non-conference game (home vs. Texas) and one conference game (at Ohio State). That might still be good enough to get into the Big Ten Championship game, and maybe good enough to get into the newly-expanded 12-team CFP playoff field.
The University of Michigan men’s basketball 2023-2024 season is over. They finished the season with a record of 8-24 (3-17 in Big Ten). They lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, and, for obvious reasons, didn’t play in a postseason tournament.
Season Wrap-Up
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: this was a terrible season for Michigan, possibly their worst ever. It was certainly the worst season I’ve witnessed in my 50 years of following Michigan basketball. That leads to a trivia question:
This season, Michigan’s football team won 15 games, and the men’s basketball team only won 8 games. When was the last time the Michigan football team had more wins in their season than the men’s basketball team? The answer is at the end of the article.
Michigan started the season with 3 wins, and it looked like they might be better than expected. Then the losing started, and they never looked promising again. They started out losing close games, within a couple points in the final 2 minutes. Then they started a different trend: building up a nice double-digit lead, then blowing the game in the 2nd half. Finally, they just got blown out and never stood a chance. Here are the three trends:
Losing the close games: Long Beach State, Memphis, Oregon, Indiana, Florida.
Building up a decent lead, then blowing the game in the 2nd half: Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland (away), Iowa (away), Michigan State (away), Rutgers (home).
Getting blown out: Illinois (home and away), Purdue (home and away), Nebraska (home and away), Rutgers (away), Ohio State (away).
The win against Ohio State (73-65) on 01/15/2024 was very satisfying. The rivalry isn’t as big in basketball, but it’s still great to beat OSU in anything.
The win against St. John’s (89-73) on 11/13/2023 in Madison Square Garden as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games was very impressive. St. John’s ended up being a “bubble team” for the Big Dance, although they didn’t get in.
There were too many “bad losses” to list them.
So, what went wrong? Several things, but the biggest problem was an undersized roster with not enough talent. I don’t think John Wooden himself could have coached this roster to a 0.500 record. When I evaluate a roster, I start at both ends: point guard and center. The guards, wings, and forwards are all important, but without a solid point guard and center, they don’t matter that much. Michigan had a solid point guard in Dug McDaniel, but the starting center (Tarris Reed, Jr.) was undersized and playing out of position. Reed would be a good-but-not-great power forward, but he’s not a Big Ten center. Worse news: Michigan didn’t really have a backup center this season. Other Big Ten teams had a 7-footer or two, with a couple 6’10” or 6’11” guys to back them up. Michigan had Reed and … crickets. Will Tschetter tried his hand at center, but he’s not tall enough or big enough to play against the big boys. Before he missed the last six games of the season with an injury, Olivier Nkamhoua also took a turn at center, but he’s also not tall enough for the role. He is big enough to bang in there, but he routinely gave up 4-6 inches in height. So, Michigan’s opponents saw that the middle wasn’t guarded very well, and they drove to the hoop more often than I’ve ever seen, and it worked.
What about guards/wings/forwards? Once again, Michigan was constrained by a lack of talent. There was no one on the roster that was the “go to” player. There was no one who you could count on to make the clutch shot. There was no one who was a consistent threat from 3-point range. All of the starters had some good games, and when a couple of them had good games at the same time, Michigan got one of their rare wins, but it didn’t happen nearly often enough.
The final piece in the roster disaster was the bench. Michigan got very little bench scoring in many of their games, and so the starters played lots of minutes, which got them tired out in the 2nd half of the games, and wore them down as the season droned on.
What about coaching? Well, I’m sure coaching played a part in the dismal failure of the season, but I still think most of it was due to an undersized and undertalented roster. Regardless, (now former) head coach Juwan Howard was fired on 03/15/2024. Now, you can certainly blame part of the roster disaster on Howard, but only part of it. When it came to roster construction, Howard was working with one hand tied behind his back. With the way the infamous Transfer Portal works these days, recruiting has taken a back seat to building a team from the portal. Unfortunately, Michigan isn’t in the top tier for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) opportunities, and Michigan’s admission policies have led a few talented transfers to look elsewhere.
Howard was actually a pretty good recruiter, but his most talented recruits either left for the NBA Draft or transferred to another school after 1-2 years. The recruiting class for this season was one incoming freshman (George Washington III), and he didn’t work out. Howard brought in three players from the Transfer Portal for this season (Nimari Burnett, Olivier Nkamhoua, and Tray Jackson), and they were decent, but they weren’t enough.
Final Grades
Here are my final grades, with the mid-term grades listed first:
Freshman Eligibility
Harrison Hochberg (Inc./Inc.) – Harrison was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 20 minutes in 10 games. He missed his only shot attempt, but did score one point on 1-for-5 free throw shooting.
George Washington III (C-/C-) – George was a major disappointment. He had his chances, and he didn’t take advantage of them. He played 146 minutes in 22 games, and he scored 26 points on terrible shooting: 5-for-27 (18.5%) overall, 4-for-18 (22.2%) from deep. He has entered the Transfer Portal. He may be a valuable player somewhere else in the future, but he was worthless this year at Michigan. He won’t be missed.
Sophomore Eligibility
Nimari Burnett (B-/B-) – Nimari was the only player to play in all 32 of Michigan’s games. He had some good games and some bad games, more bad than good. He averaged 9.6 points/game on decent shooting: 105-for-263 (39.9%) overall, 52-for-150 (34.7%) from deep. He has 2 years of eligibility remaining, but he has said that he hasn’t decided whether he will keep playing or where. It would be nice if he came back for (at least) another year at Michigan, but that doesn’t look very likely.
Youssef Khayat (C+/C) – Youssef played 97 minutes in 17 games, and he scored 24 points on lousy shooting: 7-for-23 overall (30.4%), 2-for-9 from deep (22.2%). He has entered the Transfer Portal. He never really caught on at Michigan, but he has the potential to be a decent player somewhere else. He won’t be missed.
Dug McDaniel (A/A-) – Here it is: the only “A” in this batch of grades. Dug played his heart out every minute of every game. He’s fast, he’s a great dribbler, he shot well, and he ran the offense pretty well. He shot 41.0% overall (151-for-368) and 36.8% from deep (56-for-152). He led the team in scoring (16.3 points/game), assists (121), and steals (29). He was a warrior out there. Unfortunately, we was suspended for 6 road games during the Big Ten portion of the schedule, due to academic shortcomings. He has entered the Transfer Portal, and I expect him to be snapped up by a good program, and to do well there. It’s a shame to lose him.
Tarris Reed, Jr. (B/B) – Tarris had some good games and just as many bad games. When he was “on” he was a weapon, but there were other games when he was barely playable. His shooting percentage was good (111-for-214 = 51.9%), but he didn’t take enough shots. Michigan had trouble getting the ball in to him at the post, and when they did, he often turned it over (71 turnovers). He averaged 9.0 points/game. He led the team in rebounding, with 230 rebounds (7.2 per game). He has entered the Transfer Portal, and I hope he ends up somewhere where he can play power forward instead of center. He will be missed.
Jackson Selvala (Inc./Inc.) – Jackson was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 29 minutes in 13 games. He scored 6 points, on 1-for-4 shooting overall (0-for-3 from deep) and 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line.
Cooper Smith (Inc./Inc.) – Cooper was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 18 minutes in 10 games. He has scored 9 points, on 4-for-6 shooting overall (1-for-3 from deep).
Will Tschetter (B+/B+) – Will was probably the most improved player on the team this season. He didn’t do much his freshman season, but this season he averaged 6.8 points/game on good shooting: 78-for-134 overall (58.2%) and 24-for-58 from deep (51.9%). He played small forward, power forward, and even (small) center, and he did pretty well.
Junior Eligibility
Ian Burns (Inc./Inc.) – Ian was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 24 minutes in 11 games. He scored 3 points on 3-for-5 free throw shooting. He attempted 7 shots, all 3-pointers, and he missed them all.
Jace Howard (Inc./C) – Jace missed the first 16 games with a foot injury that took forever to heal, and he missed a few more games due to illness, so he only played in 10 games. He was used mostly as a defensive player, only scoring 26 points on mediocre shooting: 8-for-27 overall (29.6%), 4-for-15 from deep (26.7%). He announced that he was planning on coming back for another season, but that was before his father was fired as head coach. He hasn’t made any comment since that happened.
Senior Eligibility
Jaelin Llewellyn (Inc./B-) – Jaelin missed the first 7 games with a knee injury, and he missed a few more games due to illness, so he only played in 20 games. He started in place of McDaniel during McDaniel’s 6-game road suspension, and those were some of Llewellyn’s best games. He averaged 5.2 points/game on pretty good shooting: 35-for-92 overall (38.0%) and 19-for-47 from deep (40.4%). He had more turnovers (31) than assists (23), which is not good for a point guard. He is out of eligibility.
Tray Jackson (B-/C+) – Tray provided some scoring and rebounding off the bench, but he only showed flashes of what he was capable of, then he disappeared. He averaged 5.0 points/game on decent shooting: 45-for-113 overall (39.8%) and 9-for-37 from deep (24.3%). He is out of eligibility.
Olivier Nkamhoua (A-/B+) – Olivier was the second most valuable player on the team, after McDaniel. He played a lot of power forward and a bit of (small) center. He played hard in every game, and he delivered. Unfortunately, he injured his left (non-shooting) wrist in early January, and played hurt for the next 13 games, finally giving up and missing the last 6 games. Still, he ended up second on the team in scoring average (14.8 points/game), and second in rebounding (7.1 rebounds/game). He shot well: 154-for-301 (51.2%) overall, 27-for-81 (33.3%) from deep. He did lead the team in turnovers, with 73. He is out of eligibility.
Terrance Williams II (B+/B+) – Terrance saved his best season for last. He ended up as the third leading scorer on the team (12.4 points/game) with nice shooting numbers: 125-for-289 (43.3%) overall, 52-for-131 (39.7%) from deep. Most importantly, he cut his fouls and turnovers way down from his career averages. He has announced that he won’t be back next season, although he does have one more year of eligibility, due to COVID.
Awards
It’s awkward giving out awards to such an underachieving team, but here we go:
Most Valuable Player: Dug McDaniel
Most Improved Player: Will Tschetter
Best Defensive Player: Olivier Nkamhoua
Sixth Man: Will Tschetter
Looking Ahead
I wish I could be more optimistic, but the future of Michigan basketball is not looking very promising. There is a lot of bad news:
Several players graduating/using up their eligibility: Nkamhoua, Williams, Llewellyn, and Jackson.
Several players entering the Transfer Portal: McDaniel, Reed, Khayat, and Washington.
A few players who haven’t announced their intentions: Burnett, Tschetter, and Howard.
One of the three incoming freshmen decommitting: Khani Rooths.
The head coach being fired
Now, the three players who haven’t announced their intentions could all come back for next season, but that isn’t likely. Burnett has been very non-committal on the subject, and Howard is the son of the head coach who was just fired. That leaves Tschetter. Maybe he’ll return, but he’s hardly an elite player.
The loss of Rooths is a big deal. He was the highest ranked prospect in Michigan’s recruiting class, and now he’s gone.
There is some good news:
There are still two promising incoming freshmen in the recruiting class:
Christian Anderson (5’11”, 155 pounds, G) – Christian is a point guard, and he might well be the starting point guard as a true freshman, since all the other point guards left. He’s a 4-star recruit.
Durral Brooks (6’2”, 180 pounds, G) – Durral was named “Mr. Basketball” for the state of Michigan, and he should bring some much-needed outside firepower to Michigan. He’s a 3-star recruit.
Hopefully, these two recruits will stick with Michigan.
The best news is that Michigan has hired a new head coach: Dusty May from Florida Atlantic University (FAU). I think this is a good hire, and that Coach May will do his best to revive Michigan basketball, but I think it’s going to take a lot longer than most people expect. I just hope that the Athletic Director and (more importantly) the public cut him some slack for the first couple seasons. This is a “total rebuild”, from the ground up, not a “reload”. The cupboard is bare. I’m confident that Coach May will work hard to bring in the right mix of players from the Transfer Portal to at least be competitive “soon”.
What’s Next?
Check back in late October for the next season of Michigan basketball.
Go Blue!
Oh yeah, the trivia answer:
In 1981 the football team went 9-3, while the 1981-1982 basketball team went 7-20.
The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it. On Wednesday (03/13/2024), they lost to Penn State 66-57 in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. Michigan was the 14-seed, and PSU was the 11-seed. The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 8-24 (3-17 in Big Ten). Michigan has now lost 9 games in a row, and their season is (mercifully) over.
What Happened?
Michigan’s loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament was certainly significant, since it ended Michigan’s dismal season, but that wasn’t the biggest news for Michigan basketball this week; on Friday (03/15/2024), head coach Juwan Howard was fired. That’s a big change.
I like Juwan, and I think he’s a great guy, but he wasn’t getting things done as a head coach. I wish him well in his future endeavors, but I look forward to a new head coach who can revitalize Michigan’s basketball program. It’s a tough job, and it’s tougher at Michigan than at many other schools. The combination of less-than-elite NIL opportunities and harder-than-average admissions policies makes it harder for Michigan to get the best players in the transfer portal, and that’s a crucial part of roster construction. Much more about this in next week’s wrap-up article. Now, back to this past week.
Game Flow
Michigan had an early lead, 3-2, before PSU pulled ahead and led for the rest of the game. Michigan did manage to tie the score at 20-20 with 4:27 to go in the half, but PSU went on a 13-2 run to end the half, up 33-22. Michigan went on a 7-0 run to start the 2nd half, and pulled within 4 points, 33-29, at the 18:07 mark, but PSU pulled away again. They got their lead up into the 8-10 point range for a while, then Michigan crept back within 4 points again, 50-46, with 9:53 to go. That was as close as they got, as PSU pushed the lead back up to the 10-12 point range, winning by 9 points.
Stats
The game stats were sad. Michigan shot poorly overall (20-for-58 = 34.5%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (4-for-18 = 22.2%), and they shot free throws decently (13-for-18 = 72.2%). They won the rebounding battle (42-32), but lost the turnover battle (15-10). They lost this game with poor 3-point shooting and too many turnovers.
In his final game for Michigan, Williams was the leading scorer, with 15 points.
Reed had a pretty good game, with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
Burnett had a decent game, with 11 points.
Jackson Selvala got to play in the last minute, and scored 2 more points, on 1-for-1 shooting.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
McDaniel was the biggest problem in this game. He scored 7 points, but he shot terribly: 3-for-12 overall, 1-for-7 from deep. He also had 4 turnovers.
Tschetter had a lousy game, with 2 points on terrible shooting: 1-for-4 overall, 0-for-2 from deep. He also had 4 turnovers.
Jace Howard had a lousy game, with 2 points on terrible shooting: 0-for-5 overall, 0-for-2 from deep. He played 22 minutes, and got his only points on free throws.
Tray Jackson played 9 minutes and scored 0 points on 0-for-2 shooting.
