Nothing has been official, but Michigan men’s basketball is preparing for life after 7-foot forward, Danny Wolf. The Wolverines’ best playmaker, Wolf averaged 13.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game for the maize and blue. Dusty May and Michigan have gone out and landed two big men from the transfer portal and are leading for another 7-footer.
Wolf starred at Michigan this past season after playing at Yale for two years. The Illinois native played alongside Vlad Goldin to make up the nation’s best big-man duo in the country. Appearing on ‘The Michigan Insider‘ on Wednesday, head coach Dusty May told Sam Webb that they are fully expecting Wolf to go chase his dream, and play in the NBA next season.
“Danny did a great job. I never heard him talk about the Draft board or whatever the case. But it’s the elephant in the room: Everyone is talking about it,” May said.
“We’re supportive of his dreams. All feedback and intel comes back in time, but the early reports we have are that he’s in very good shape. I think in today’s climate, if you get a guaranteed first-round pick by a team that believes in you and wants to grow with you, you probably need to take it.”
“All feedback is that he will be able to achieve his dreams. Our expectations are that he will go chase them.”
Assuming Michigan does indeed lose Wolf, the Wolverines will lose its top two playmakers from last season. Point guard Tre Donaldson is also gone and headed to Miami. But Michigan added North Carolina point guard Elliot Cadeau and has five-star guard Trey McKenney coming in. May shared that he always had multiple playmakers on the court at the same time during his tenure at FAU, and he expects guard Roddy Gayle Jr. to take that leap as a playmaker next season.
“If we do lose Danny, it opens up playmaking for Roddy Gayle Jr.,” May said. “Danny was a high-usage guy, Tre was a high-usage guy, so it gives Roddy Gayle more of an opportunity to be a primary playmaker. If you watch our good possessions throughout the season — other than the 4-5 pick-and-roll — Roddy Gayle feeding the post, Roddy Gaye making the right reads on skip passes, Roddy rejecting ball screens and getting to the paint — he did a lot of things that make a team function well.
“We’re empowering him, we’re encouraging him to be more of a playmaker for us, a facilitator, so I think — at FAU we had three playmakers, four playmakers on the court at all times. Ideally, we have a couple more playmakers and there is a lot more offensive rhythm.”
– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –
Dusty May ‘expects’ a Michigan basketball veteran to return to Ann Arbor in 2025-26
Dusty May speaks on Tre Donaldson transferring: ‘It’s complicated on a number of levels’
What makes Michigan football so excited about 4-star freshman CB Shamari Earls
For additional coverage of University of Michigan athletics:
