With the transfer portal in full swing this offseason, we took the time to re-examine how Dusty May and Michigan managed the portal last offseason:
The transfer portal has been headline news every day since Michigan was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. Dusty May and his staff have already received verbal commitments from guard Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina) and forward Morez Johnson (Illinois) while suffering losses from Tre Donadlson, Justin Pippen, Jace Howard and Sam Walters.
With the portal likely to be as busy as ever, we decided to take some time to reevaluate how Michigan did in the portal last offseason. Who were the biggest hits? Were there any misses that could have majorly impacted the team? Should we be glad the Wolverines missed out on any prospects they pursued?
As a refresher, the Wolverines lost George Washington III (Richmond), Terrance Williams II (USC), Tarris Reed (UConn ), Youssef Khayat (Bowling Green) and Dug McDaniel (Kansas State ) to the portal. The incoming class consisted of Vlad Goldin (FAU), Sam Walters (Alabama), Roddy Gayle Jr. (Ohio State), Tre Donaldson (Auburn), Danny Wolf (Yale) and Rubin Jones (North Texas).
In retrospect, none of the losses proved to be all that painful. Washington, Williams and Khayat likely would not have been in the rotation this year. Reed would have been a useful piece, but would have backed up Vlad Goldin. McDaniel had a moderately successful season at Kansas State, but he would have been usurped by Donaldson.
As for the additions, May hit a home run with both Wolf and Goldin. They dominated Big Ten play for most of the season. Wolf’s uncanny ball-handling ability for someone his size is unique, while Goldin’s post-presence will surely be missed.
Donaldson also proved to be an excellent addition, as he played his best basketball in March, notably by beating Maryland at the buzzer in the Big Ten Tournament . Jones and Gayle had up-and-down seasons, but were solid contributors at times.
It’s easy to be impressed by who May brought in last offseason. He essentially had to build a roster from scratch in a short amount of time. He was able to piece together a roster that would take the team to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, which is not easy.
As for who the Wolverines missed out on, the list is understandably long . The most notable were May’s former players at FAU, Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin. Davis struggled for most of the season before breaking out in the NCAA Tournament as Arkansas became the closest thing to a Cinderella we saw this year.
Martin elected to attend Final-Four bound Florida and has thrived for the Gators. Averaging 14.5 points per game, Martin is Florida’s second-leading scorer and one of the best players on a team with a legitimate shot at the national title.
Other portal misses that could have played a huge part in Michigan’s 2024-25 efforts include J’Vonne Hadley (Louisville), Trey Townsend (Arizona) and Aden Holloway (Alabama). Hadley started every game for the Cardinals and led the team in rebounding. Townsend started most of the season, while Holloway came off the bench for the Crimson Tide but shot an astounding 41.2 percent from three. His shooting and floor spacing would have helped Michigan tremendously.
On the flip side, there were several transfers Michigan was going after hard who went elsewhere and didn’t end up panning out.
Connor Essegian chose Nebraska over Michigan and ended up being a reliable shooter, but not much more. Clark Slajchert chose USC as an up-transfer from Penn, but he scored just 4.1 points per game in 26 appearances. Aidan Mahaney ended up at UConn, but he scored just 4.5 points per game off the bench in a disappointing season for the Huskies.
A handful of other names had mixed results at their new schools such as Drew Thelwell (Morehead State to Iowa) and Dante Maddox Jr. (Toledo to Xavier).
The overall takeaway here is May deserves all the credit in the world for how he assembled his first Michigan roster. Not only did he do an excellent job, but he did remarkable for how little time he had to do it. Now with more time on his side this offseason, the Wolverines should be in a good spot to follow up this year’s Sweet Sixteen run.