Three days.
Three days was all that stood between Michigan Basketball landing its first commitment through the transfer portal this offseason after beating UConn in the National Championship. The Wolverines won it all on April 6, and then acquired the commitment of Tennessee power forward JP Estrella on April 9.
A versatile power forward at 6-foot-11 and 240 pounds, Estrella is projected to play the 4 for the Wolverines next year, right next to fellow transfer portal addition and former Cincinnati
big man Moustapha Thiam, who announced his commitment to Michigan in late April.
Estrella was a major contributor for Tennessee last season. After missing the majority of his sophomore year due to a left foot injury that required surgery, he came back and made a huge impact. Across 33 games with 13 starts, he averaged 10.0 points and 5.4 rebounds (92 total offensive, 86 total defensive) per game while shooting 59.6 percent from the field and 40 percent (4-for-10) from three.
The numbers aren’t blowing anybody away, but neither did the numbers from Morez Johnson Jr. or Aday Mara before they transferred in last year. Dusty May and company have been a premier destination for big men in the portal, turning Danny Wolf into a first-round draft pick and setting up Johnson and Mara to be first-round picks this summer as well.
If history is any indicator, Estrella will have his best year — or years, as he has two seasons of eligibility left — in Ann Arbor. And a member of the national media believes that to be the case as well. CJ Moore from The Athletic recently put together an article highlighting five of the best fits through the transfer portal this offseason, and he included Michigan and Estrella.
Here’s what Moore had to say:
Estrella is a big who can pass and probably wasn’t utilized as much as he should have been at Tennessee based on his skill level. What could that look like when moving to Michigan?
Estrella, at 6-11, is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison to Aday Mara, but he could be a blend between Mara and Danny Wolf, who also saw his assist rate increase in the Michigan offense after transferring from Yale in 2024-25. Estrella’s assist rate was not as high as either Mara or Wolf before their moves to Michigan, but the passes he’s able to make suggest he’s capable of being the type of hub Mara and Wolf were for the Wolverines.
And in the two-big lineups that Dusty May loves to play — Estrella figures to start next to 7-foot-2 Moustapha Thiam — and Estrella is great delivering high-low entries.
Then, similar to Mara, he’s more deserving of low-post touches because of his efficiency. Estrella has one of the best jump hooks in college basketball. Among players who shot at least 50 hooks last year, he ranked second in percentage of makes (58.6 percent), per Synergy. Estrella also had the eighth-best offensive rebounding rate in college hoops and is a capable three-point shooter who will probably get the green light to shoot more at Michigan — he made 4 of 10 3s last season.
The Vols were better on both ends when Estrella was on the floor. Tennessee had a lot of depth up front, but his production and efficiency suggest he should have been playing more than 18.3 minutes per game. The same was true for Mara at UCLA. I’m not predicting Estrella’s impact will be as great as Mara’s, but he’s another big man who could make May look smart.
What do you think? Will Estrella’s game be taken to the next level under May and company during the 2026-27 season? Let me know what you think down in the comments section below.
