Wolf is not your average 7-footer.
It was a busy weekend filled with positive news for the Michigan men’s basketball program, adding a trio of players from both the transfer portal and the 2024 class. One of those players is Yale transfer Danny Wolf.
Wolf still has two years of eligibility remaining, and he’s got great size for the Big Ten at 7-foot and 255 pounds. Last season, he averaged 14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from three and 71.7 percent from the free throw line. He was unanimously voted First-Team All-Ivy League, scoring 10 points or more in 23 games. He also represented Israel in the FIBA U20 European Championship last year , averaging 17.7 points, 12 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while helping Israel advance to the title game.
Highlights don’t tell the full story of a player’s game, but until we see Wolf play in Ann Arbor, let’s breakdown what Michigan fans can expect from him in the coming seasons.
Scouting Report
Wolf is not your typical 7-footer; he does all the things you’d expect him to do well in terms of rebounding and rim protection, but he’s also an excellent shooter and playmaker.
Here’s what Draft Digest, a Sports Illustrated site dedicated to NBA draft scouting, said about Wolf in December :
“At 255 pounds, Wolf has an incredibly strong frame. There’s not many players in the modern NBA that boast that size, as versatility and perimeter-oriented basketball is the way the league is trending. With that in mind, the 7-footer is shooting 48% from beyond the arc on over two attempts per game this season. Relative to his size and position, this makes him one of the most impressive shooters in the entire country.”
He’s a really good three-point shooter for his size. As Ant Wright pointed out in a video last month, Wolf shot better than 43 percent on catch-and-shoot threes and can be used as a versatile piece off screen actions, both rolling towards the basket and popping out for a three-pointer above the break.
Transfer Portal Breakdown
Danny Wolf – 7’0” 255 pound forward
1st team All Ivy League out of Yale pic.twitter.com/87fbFaR5R4
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) March 31, 2024
Wolf is efficient around the rim and has a soft touch to help finish shots in the lane. He utilizes speed with his back to the basket, making a quick move to face up and beat his defender to the rim. He’s versatile and a nightmare to guard — opponents have to respect his three-point shot, but he can also take them off the dribble and drive to the rim.
Wolf is also an excellent passer, regularly finding cutting teammates in the post, throwing accurate lobs and entry passes, and even distributing from the perimeter in hand-off sets. He reminds me of Sacramento Kings All-Star Domatas Sabonis in the way he is able to dictate the pace of a game and make plays with his passing and scoring versatility.
Wolf is also a good rebounder and rim protector, with advanced stats backing up the eye test. On KenPom ($) , out of 2,261 qualifying players last season, he ranked 10th in the country in defensive rebounding rate (29.1 percent) and 147th in block percentage (5.5 percent). That means when the Bulldogs were on defense, Wolf blocked more than five percent of his opponent’s shots — a fairly high percentage, considering how many shots come from the perimeter and are generally harder to block — and rebounded almost 30 percent of misses.
The sequence at the beginning of the video below perfectly encapsulates what makes Wolf such an appealing player. Early into a win against Princeton, Wolf blocks a shot off the backboard, which kicks off the fast break. Despite initially being behind the play, the big man runs the floor well before getting the ball back in the half court, taking a quick dribble and slamming home a one-handed dunk. Plays like this show how he can impact the game on both ends and help swing momentum for his team in many ways.
Casual basketball fans learned more about Wolf when he helped the Bulldogs upset No. 4 Auburn, one of the hottest teams in the country at the time, in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. In that win, Wolf didn’t shoot the ball super well (4-of-15) but still made plenty of contributions, scoring 13 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a steal. And he did it all while donning a Rip Hamilton-style mask for the start of the game after breaking his nose a month prior.
As we can see with the way Dusty May utilized Vlad Goldin — who remains in the transfer portal and visited Michigan earlier this month — at FAU last season, Michigan’s newest head coach values versatile big men who can make plays off ball screens in the short roll.
Wolf fits that mold perfectly. His offensive versatility, rebounding skills, passing versatility and rim protection makes him one of the most valuable players on Michigan’s team this upcoming season. There are still at least five scholarships to fill, but as the roster currently sits, Wolf slides in as the starting center and could be a go-to guy for the Wolverines late in games.
What do you like about Wolf’s game? Let us know in the comments.