Emotions are still high as the Michigan Wolverines were crowned national champions in Indianapolis on Monday. But Dusty May and his staff got right to work — in the locker room after hoisting the trophy, of all times— as they began to contact players in the transfer portal. As important as transfers were to the 2025-26 roster, you can imagine the stress and importance this program will continue to have in the portal.
We’re still in the infancy stage of transfer portal season, even though thousands
have already entered. Regardless, let’s take a look at what Michigan is working with as of now.
Roster Breakdown
Players Leaving – Graduate or NBA Draft
- Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter, Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara (prediction), Roddy Gayle
Players Returning – Scholarship
- Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr. (prediction), Trey McKinney, Winters Grady, Malick Kordel, Oscar Goodman, Ricky Liburd, L.J. Cason (medical redshirt)
Players Incoming – High School
- Five-star G Brandon McCoy, four-star F Quinn Costello, four-star G Joseph Hartman, four-star F Lincoln Cosby, three-star F Malachi Brown, German C Marcus Moller
Scholarships
- Currently available: 0
- Based on above projections: 1
- Anticipated: 2-4
Back court
Even with Cason redshirting next season, Michigan has to feel really good about the back court. Cadeau and McKenney have already announced their desires to stay in Ann Arbor following the championship run. There should be a sliver of concern for testing NBA waters because of how both performed in the Final Four, but any changes to their commitment would be shocking at this point.
Then, the Wolverines added two top-100 guards, highlighted by Brandon McCoy, the five-star who committed on the Fab Five Altcast during the Final Four. He is a slasher with an absurd vertical that’s going to cause some problems. He’s an immediate impact player who will see playing time.
Then there is Hartman, an elite shooter at a towering 6-foot-6, showing some flexibility to play the 2 or 3 like Gayle did. Liburd, who redshirted this season, is a depth piece who will continue developing his game.
Something I don’t see is a second primary ball-handler after Cadeau. McKenney wasn’t really in that role this season, but certainly could develop it this offseason. While McCoy was a point guard in high school, I envision him as also an off-ball guard. Don’t be shocked if the Wolverines look to add another point guard through the portal, but I’d be really surprised if they brought in another combo/shooting guard with the tremendous depth they have in the room already. There’s a legitimate chance they have the best backcourt in America next season, even without Cason.
Front court
This is where things get dicey. The general rumblings around Ann Arbor is Mara will head to the NBA Draft, where I have seen him as high as the No. 9 pick in some projections. Meanwhile, the expectation seems to be that Johnson will stay. His NIL package is likely as much if not more than whatever he would make as a late-first, early-second-round pick, and development in college is much more accessible.
That leaves starting positions open at both small forward and center. Kordel is the only returning center on the team, and while the team has shared on a few occasions how much they like his upside, he’s still very raw. Then there is the 7-foot-3 Denmark native Marcus Moller, who has cut his teeth playing in professional basketball in Europe. But he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in January and had to step away from the game.
We’ve received little update on what that could mean for his prospects in 2026-27, but you’d have to imagine health and family are the priority. This could mean a roster spot opening, and I expect Michigan to be aggressive in replacing Mara in the portal because of this concern. Johnson could always play the five, but I’m positive May would like to add another 7-footer to the roster regardless of Moller’s availability.
With that assumption, Johnson will start at the 4 again. The depth is really strong there as well. Oscar Goodman was the first of the bench players to see playing time when the Wolverines were up big. Costello — a McDonald’s All American — will almost surely be in the rotation, too.
There are quite a few options at the 3, all with little experience and many concerns. The biggest wildcard is Cosby, a five-star recruit who reclassified from 2027 to 2026 and was STILL ranked No. 38 overall in the class. His final high school season was cut short due to an ACL tear, but this kid is a freak at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan. If he adds muscle and gets healthy, he’ll be exactly the kind of player the Wolverines are looking for at the position.
Grady is a similar story — he’s a sharpshooter and former top-100 prospect who dealt with a nagging foot injury that kept him sidelined as a freshman. May was singing his praises before the start of the season for both his shooting ability and work ethic. There’s a world where he’s a significant piece to the 2026-27 roster, but it would mean a smaller rotation than this championship squad.
If neither are healthy, that leaves Liburd, Hartman or three-star freshman Malachi Brown as potential options. Expect the Wolverines to make this position a priority in the portal.
So why expect 2-4 open scholarships?
Leeway has to be left for the rest of this roster. We expect Mara to leave (one roster spot open), and are far from 100 percent with Johnson. Then the health status of Moller up in the air, and a few pieces who haven’t proven much on the court. That’s 1-3 roster spots right there.
So what could portal additions mean for a Liburd, Grady, Kordel or Goodman? It’s really easy for these younger players to be ok being depth as freshmen behind the likes of Mara, Lendeborg and Johnson. But will they feel the same way for an additional season? I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of these guys ended up looking elsewhere for a guaranteed bigger role.
What we know is May is going to be aggressive. In his first two seasons, there have been times where Michigan has had more players on the roster than scholarships available for a limited time. I suspect that will happen again as we watch how the offseason pans out. Either way, this team has the foundation for another great season in 2026-27 with extremely high upside. It’ll be fun to watch the mastery of May’s roster construction at work over the next few months.
