Everybody comes to the game of basketball differently. In America, kids who are taller than others are often pushed into basketball, playing tons of AAU games before they can legally drive a car. But that’s
not necessarily the case in other countries.
Michigan freshman Malick Kordel is not your traditional big man that enters college with tons of experience under his belt. He actually played handball growing up, which he recently shared has helped him transition to the game of basketball.
“A little bit of it translates, for sure,” Kordel said at Michigan’s Media Day on Tuesday. “Especially the running up and down. The transition play, for me, jumping off one leg. In handball you don’t jump off of two legs, so the ability to jump off of one helped me a lot in basketball.”
When the pandemic started, his handball team was unable to practice, so he shifted his focus to basketball and college coaches started to take notice. Kordel oftentimes thinks back and wonders what his life would be like without basketball.
“I ask myself this question every day — what I would do if I didn’t play basketball,” Kordel said. “I think it’s hard for every young guy going to school to choose what he wants to do the rest of his life, but we’re blessed that we get to do the stuff we do every day.”
Discovering his game
His interest in basketball began when he was younger, as he tried to model his game after Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetoukounmpo. But as he’s gotten older, he grew fond of French player Mathias Lessort, who represented his country recently at the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
It’s easy to see why Kordel likes Lessort. The Frenchman embraces physicality, punishes the rim on dunks, and finishes above the rim over defenders, with plenty of highlight dunks and powerful blocks on his resume. If that’s the player Michigan is getting in Kordel, another layer is added to what the Wolverines can do with him, especially offensively.
“He’s going to add something to our group that no one else does,” head coach Dusty May said. “He has a unique ability to set physical ball screens and get to the rim and catch lobs. We haven’t had a real lob threat, to be honest, since we had John Egbunu when I was at Florida, and prior to that, Michale Kyser at (Louisiana) Tech. We have a couple guys now that are legit lob threats in Malick, Aday (Mara) and Morez (Johnson). Our ability to put pressure on the rim is something we welcome this year.”
Why he chose Michigan
Kordel was at Crisler Center for the Michigan-Michigan State game in February, and while Michigan lost that game, he came away impressed with what he saw. Perception has become reality, in a sense, for him.
He also said the American college experience is an adjustment, considering he hadn’t been in school the past two years. But as is often the case with recruiting, the coaches led him to eventually commit to Michigan.
“I had great talks with coaching staff and coach May, and overall it was the best fit for me,” Kordel said.
The German center told us he started learning English in second grade, but he didn’t really start speaking the language until three years ago so he could converse with American teammates.
A budding (friendly) rivalry
Kordel battles with UCLA transfer Aday Mara in practice, and while the saying “iron sharpens iron” is true here, not all pieces of iron are 275 pounds of muscle.
“During practice, I hate it,” Mara said with a chuckle. “I’m super grateful to have him, to have a big man that I have to play every day. He’s tall, strong, physical, and helps me play more physical every day and get used to it when the games come. When we have to play against a physical (team), it will be normal for me.”
Kordel, who hit a max vert of 34 inches — half an inch higher than his previous max that we witnessed last Friday — is a large physical presence. He and Mara have a friendly rivalry, going against each other every day in practice; Kordel mentioned his vertical is still higher than Mara’s, and he takes pride in that.
Seeing Kordel in person at Media Day and in the weight room last week, he is massive. He’s listed at 275, but it’s a lean 275 pounds. When watching him in practice, Kordel understandably looks a little raw. He missed a few layups and is a step slow offensively, but he got his hands on every pass and the tools are there for him to be a reliable big man.
“He’s super strong and super heavy, it’s tough to move him,” Mara said. “You just have to find a way to play defense.”
Freshman year expectations
May said the intention was for him to contribute right away upon his signing, but acknowledged the signing of some more experienced players may affect his playing time.
When May traveled to Germany to see him play, Kordel didn’t take the court due to a minor injury, but they did break bread. He came in a little late due to visa issues, but May said he’s made an impact in practice.
“Malick might be the most pleasant surprise so far,” May said. “He’s a hard worker, he’s dying to get better. His physicality, you guys want to talk about Big Ten physicality, you could drop him off anywhere on these 18 campuses and he matches the physicality of the Big Ten, if not surpasses it.
