With the start of the basketball season of the college at the beginning of November, Inside the Hall is watching a team-for-team at the Big Ten and a player-for-one player looks at the schedule of IU basketball.
Today our team reviews end with Michigan.
Earlier: Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oregon, USC, Michigan State, Ohio State, UCLA, Illinois, Purdue
After producing 27 wins and a sweet sixteen appearance last winter in Ann Arbor, Michigan is seen as a Big ten and National Competer who comes in the 2025-26 season under Dusty May.
The 48-year-old May, a resident of Indiana and IU graduate, already has a last four on his CV at Florida Atlantic and hopes to bring the Wolverines to Lucas Oil Stadium and the last four next spring.
The pieces are certainly in place for Michigan to challenge Purdue for the Big Ten title and to earn a strong seed in the NCAA tournament 2026.
Michigan graduated from Goldin, Danny Wolf lost to the NBA Draft and Tre Donaldson on the transfer portal, but retained several important pieces and was loaded into the portal last spring.
The trio of Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. And Aday Mara will lead the renewed Michigan Frontcourt.
Lendeborg arrives from UAB after testing the NBA concept waters. The 6-foot-9 graduated student on average 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocked shots and 1.7 steals in 33.6 minutes per game last season for the blazers.
Johnson played his first -year season in Illinois, where he on average seven points and 6.7 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game, mainly from the bank. On 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, he is aggressive on the glass and his production should climb with increased minutes.
The 7-foot-3 Mara will probably come from the bank after having spent the previous two seasons at UCLA. Mara, a resident of Zaragoza, Spain, is a very competent center that had an average of 6.4 points and four rebounds per game last season. Few teams will have an answer in the post for Mara.
With the transfer from Donaldson to Miami (FL), Michigan North Carolina Transfer Elliott landed as a gift to take over that position. The 6-foot-1 gift has an elite play potential, but has to become more consistent in his junior season. Gift took on average a solid line last season: 9.4 points, 6.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals, but only 44.5 percent shot out of the field and 33.7 percent on 3s.
The defense rotation turns senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. and graduate student Nimari Burnett back, one of the best glue boys in the competition.
Gayle Jr. Last winter had one up and down season in Ann Arbor after switching from Ohio State. A talented scorer, the 6-foot-5 Gayle has already surpassed the 1,000 career point marking and thrives in transition. Last season he had 19 scoring matches with double digits for the Wolverines, including a season-high 26 points against Texas A&M in the NCAA tournament 2025.
Last season Burnett started all 37 games for Michigan and made a team-high 66 3-headers while connected to a 40 percent clip of distance. Now that the sixth season of College Basketball is entering, the 6-foot-5 Burnett is a leader on and out of the floor for Michigan.
The Wolverines also added McDonald’s All-American Trey McKenney, a 6-foot-4 first-year person from Flint, Michigan. The 6-foot-4 McKenney was the Gatorade player of the year in Michigan for two consecutive seasons and is a great scorer. Whether he cracks the starting setup or comes from the bank, McKenney is too talented to stay out of the rotation.
Michigan also returns veteran striker Will Tschetter, a 6-foot-8 graduate student. Another Wolverine who knows his role and plays it well, Tschetter on average 6.4 points and 2.4 rebounds last season while he shot 35.1 percent at 3s in 15.9 minutes per match.
Sophomore Guard LJ Cason is also back and should get a crack at Back -Up guard minutes. The 6-foot-2 case defeated Justin Pips last season for minutes and an average of 4.3 points in 11.8 minutes per match.
The rest of the grid is rounded by three real first -year students and a Redshirt first -year student.
Winters Grady, a 6-foot-5 guard from Tualatin, Oregon, can fill the perimeter and was a consensus top 100 recruit in the 2025 class.
Oscar Goodman sat outside last season as a Redshirt after arriving of the NBA Global Academy. The resident of New Zealand is 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds and must offer the depth of the forefront.
Malick Kordel, a first-year student of 7 Foot-2 from Germany, only started playing competitive basketball and a long-term development piece in the five place.
Ricky Liburd was a late addition to the 2025 class from Sagemont Prep in Florida. The 6-foot-4 guard is described as a “diamond in the rough” in his official bio on the athletics site of Michigan.
In general, Michigan has the talent to go deeply eight or nine players with a small drop-off consistent. May discussed extensively during the preseason, the possibility to play no fewer than 10 players and his selection is very suitable for exactly.
Bottom Line: Michigan involves in the season, has the talent to compete with every team in the country. The Wolverines play an ambitious non-conference schedule and will be prepared for another competitive season in the Big ten. Lendeborg has a completely American potential and few teams can match the size and versatility of Michigan’s Front Court.
Sacrifice“I love our team, and I think we have a very high ceiling, and there is nothing that lets me say that we have not had enough of this, or we have not had enough of beating each team in the country on a certain night. Now there are areas that we should definitely improve and continue to improve, we are absolutely for months and months to work before it is even the trouble. Media day from Michigan.
See more: Comments, 2025-26 Big Ten Preview, Michigan Wolverines
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