Scouting Report: What Michigan fans can expect from North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau

Michigan Basketball picked up its first transfer portal player of the offseason in North Carolina PG Elliot Cadeau. Here’s a breakdown of his game and what he brings to Ann Arbor:

On the final day of March, the Michigan men’s basketball program landed one of the top point guards in the transfer portal in Elliot Cadeau.

The 6-foot-1 ball handler has been a two-year starter for the North Carolina Tar Heels, posting career averages of 8.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. A former five-star high school recruit, he made the ACC all-freshman team in 2023-24, with his shooting splits improving significantly from his freshman year (41.7 percent from the field, 18.9 percent from three, 64.8 percent from free throw line) to his sophomore year (44.5 percent, 33.7 percent, 67.0 percent).

Let’s study his game and look at where he could fit in Michigan’s rotation when the dust settles upon the portal closing on April 22.

Scouting Report

Cadeau’s playmaking ability is his greatest strength. He posted an assist rate of 38.2 percent, 14th in the country on KenPom . His 37.7 percent mark in conference play was the highest among all ACC players.

Unfortunately, Cadeau — who touched the ball on nearly 24 percent of UNC’s possessions — led the conference in total turnovers (113).

A good measure of a guard’s effectiveness when it comes to playmaking is whether or not they need a screen to get into the lane. While Cadeau is effective in the pick-and-roll, he does have the speed and smooth handle to blaze past defenders without a screen.

Similar to Tre Donaldson, he’s a good shooter off the dribble who can create space with a step-back despite his slight frame. He’s an average three-point shooter, but when given the choice, Cadeau appears to prefer driving and finishing at the rim.

According to Ant Wright, Cadeau shot 41 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. We know Dusty May’s offense creates a lot of those looks, with Nimari Burnett being the main beneficiary this past season.

Cadeau was a five-star high school recruit who may have untapped potential that wasn’t on display much for a struggling UNC team. Like Juwan Howard, a main criticism of Hubert Davis has been his inability to develop players like Cadeau, who was a starter on an NCAA Tournament 1-seed his freshman year.

Per Evan Miyakawa with EvanMiya.com , an advanced stats basketball website, Cadeau finished in the top-15 in predicted assist rate, a mark that places him in the 99th percentile. The passes he made would have led to more assists if he played with better shooters. Miyakawa graded him as an A+ playmaker with solid grades on the defensive end as well.

Would you want him to knock down threes at a more efficient clip? Of course, but his playmaking ability driving to the rim and his court vision make up for that.

Where Cadeau fits in Michigan’s rotation

What’s curious about this addition is Cadeau basically plays the same position as Donaldson, so the fit with the two guards is a bit interesting.

If Donaldson returns to Michigan — who knows with the current state of the portal? — the pairing gives Michigan two guards who can drive to the rim and hit threes off the bounce. In May’s ball-screen heavy offense, they could play well off one another.

Cadeau started in 68 of his 74 games at UNC; I don’t know if he was promised anything, but I’d imagine he expects to start at Michigan. He will definitely run the point when Donaldson is out of the game. Cadeau gives Michigan a guard with college experience, meaning the Wolverines won’t have to rely as much on underclassmen guards.

Speaking of those young guards, I do like the fit of Cadeau playing alongside L.J. Cason. It gives Cason another player who can set him up and who he can play off. Plus, competing against Cadeau in practice will only bring the best out of Cason, Phat Phat Brooks, and freshmen Trey McKenney and Winters Grady.

I’d expect Cadeau to earn about 25-27 minutes per game, right around his career average. Regardless if he improves his three-point shooting or not, I’d imagine he will always be on the floor to close games because of his playmaking ability.

We know from May’s time at Florida Atlantic he can find ways to succeed with two undersized playmakers sharing the backcourt. One of Michigan’s weaknesses last season was creating shots — outside of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, the Wolverines struggled to get open looks late in games largely because of inconsistent guard play. Cadeau can help in those late-game situations and could lead Michigan in scoring in more than a few games.

I hopped on Out of the Blue with Jared Stormer and Andy Bailey minutes after the news of Cadeau committing dropped, and you can hear my thoughts at this link .