There are a lot of to be excited about with this roster full of new faces.
We are well into the month of June, and in college basketball, that means the transfer portal is closed and teams are getting on campus for summer workouts for the first time this offseason.
Assistant coach/general manager Kyle Church said during a media availability last month that Michigan is hoping to have all the players in town for summer workouts by today, June 10.
We’ve still got a long way to go before the season starts, but ahead of those workouts, here are five storylines to look for regarding the 2024-25 men’s basketball team this summer.
Who is going to be the leading scorer on this team?
This may be the toughest question to ask, considering all the new faces we have on this team, but I think there are a couple options.
Vlad Goldin is an obvious choice. He knows Dusty May’s system, is a menace in the paint , and as Ant Wright pointed out in a recent breakdown, he played really well against high major schools and improved toward the end of the year.
There is also plenty to like about Roddy Gayle Jr.’s game . He’ll have the ball in his hands a lot, and the sky is the limit if he can improve his three-point stroke as May is hoping .
It also could end up being whoever commits to Michigan with their 13th and final available scholarship spot. With all the talent on this roster, there’s also a chance someone we’re not expecting that takes a leap and steps up in that role.
This may be a question easier to answer once official practices start during the school year, but a go-to guy could emerge in these summer workouts.
Who steps up as a leader?
With all the new faces on this team, leadership will be key.
A few of the transfers are college basketball veterans with four years of experience under their belt, including Goldin and point guard Rubin Jones. While his playing time has been sparse, Jace Howard is now the longest-tenured returning scholarship player. He and Will Tschetter are guys to watch out for when it comes to this, in my opinion.
How do Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf fit together?
At his latest media availability, May hinted at the idea of Goldin and Wolf playing “significant minutes” together, giving Michigan its own version of the Twin Towers .
The two big men complement each other well, with Goldin’s efficiency in the paint and Wolf’s ability to space the floor. Summer workouts and intrasquad scrimmages are the perfect time for Michigan’s staff to experiment with this.
How much better can the returning players be?
Three scholarship players from the 2023-24 remain on this roster: Tschetter, Howard and Nimari Burnett.
Tschetter and Burnett played significant minutes last season, albeit for a team that finished last in the Big Ten. In order for them to earn playing time with all the new players on the roster, they’ll have to make significant improvements to their game.
As my colleague Jake Singer touched on in an excellent column last month , Tschetter can be a glue guy on this squad. I’d like to see him make improvements offensively, especially when it comes to in the paint and in the mid-range. If he can knock down threes at the 51.9 percent clip (on 1.7 attempts per game) he did last season while playing good defense, he’ll play a good amount of minutes.
As for Burnett, the talent as a scorer is there, as we saw that during Michigan’s best win last season at Madison Square Garden against St. John’s when he had 21 points in the first half . With him, I’d like to see him be more consistent as a shooter. With all the guards on the roster, he could be a solid complementary piece who will compete for a starting spot, but could also thrive as one of the first players off the bench.
Defense will be the key to Howard getting any sort of non-garbage-time playing time. With the lack of wings on this roster, that’s his clearest path toward playing.
Can any of the freshman guards crack the rotation?
The speed of college basketball tends to be difficult for freshman guards to adjust to, but Michigan has three 2024 guards up for the task in Justin Pippen , Lorenzo Cason and Durral Brooks .
May has said the three of them will have the chance to earn minutes. Developing individual skills may be the focus for this trio in summer workouts, so this is the best time to make a good first impression. A strong summer from any of them could get them on the pathway toward seeing the court more often than not as a first-year player.