Many college basketball players grew up dreaming of playing in the NBA, but others had a dream of playing for a particular school or program.
Michigan Wolverines forward Danny Wolf had that dream, and while it took some time for him to wear the Block M, that dream came to fruition in 2024 as part of head coach Dusty May’s first team in Ann Arbor.
At his press conference before Michigan’s exhibition game against Oakland, May said he expected grad transfer Vlad Goldin to start and play 20-25 minutes a game while Wolf would learn and grow behind him, playing around 14 minutes a game. However, May learned very quickly Wolf was no role player and had the potential to become the star.
It wasn’t clear how Wolf and Goldin would play together, but they believed in May’s vision and flourished together.
“They bought into a vision, and sometimes it’s hard to buy into something that’s not seen, that you can’t see,” May said after the Sweet Sixteen. “Also, they worked. They wanted to figure out solutions. They wanted to figure out the best way to do it, and it starts with just getting really quality people that are good at basketball and then figure out a way to make it work.”
May realized the team would have the most success with his two 7-footers on the court at the same time. It’s hard enough to guard and score on one giant, it’s twice as hard to do it with two.
Even in the loss on Friday night, Area 50-1 was on full display — as it had been all season long.
“I loved every single minute I played with Danny,” Goldin said. “He’s obviously a great player. It’s been fun. We did something that not many people do, and we did something that, me personally, I haven’t done before. I think I learned a lot playing by his side with him.”
Goldin finished the game against Auburn with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Wolf tallied 20 points and six rebounds on 9-of-18 shooting.
It was Wolf’s seventh 20+ point game of the season, continuously putting his childhood team on his back while proving to NBA scouts even more he has what it takes to be a professional player.
“First of all, when I left Yale, I didn’t know what my basketball future held,” Wolf said. “I knew I wanted to be at this level. Obviously, in the back of my mind, I’d grown up a big Michigan fan and sported a ton of Michigan clothes. After their Final Fours, all I wanted for my birthday was signed basketballs.
“I have so much respect and gratitude for my coaches for allowing me to come here. It was arguably the greatest year of my life, and I made so many amazing relationships. I met my brothers for life, and we had an unbelievable locker room. We stuck with each other through the ups and downs. It sucks to see it cut short, but yeah, this last year has been the greatest in my life.”
Wolf ended his Michigan career averaging 13.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest. He totaled 50 blocks and 25 steals in his 37 starts, and he shot the ball at nearly a 50 percent clip. While there were still imperfections in his game, Wolf left it all on the court to lift Michigan into the tier of contenders once again in college basketball.
“Playing at Michigan this year was the greatest honor of my lifetime,” Wolf said. “When coach May and his staff kind of (allowed me) to come here and laid out a plan for Vlad and I, I questioned it at first, but they put so much trust in the two of us, and our teammates make us look way better than we are.”
May added: “You think back to June or whatever date it was when we had the full group here and what they looked like then and where you were at that point, it didn’t look anything like it does now.
“You’re bringing so many new guys, you have some other guys still in the program, you don’t know how their personalities are going to mesh, their skill sets. Just for these guys to want to be better every single day, to be open to change, to love each other, to get off the mat when you get knocked down, just proud of the group…They left a legacy. They’ve helped us establish an identity, and they should be very proud of their body of work.”
With the transfer portal already open, May will focus on building the 2025-26 roster. For Wolf, while he has an extra year of eligibility, it sounds plausible he will set his sights on the NBA Draft.
It wasn’t the ending the team wanted, but it was still a major success as Wolf’s breakout season has the Wolverines set up well for the future.
