Michigan adds 7 players in 5 days to build competitive roster from scratch

Over the course of a few days, Dusty May assembled the bulk of a roster that looks capable of contending in the Big Ten.

The Michigan men’s basketball program added seven players over a five-day period, starting on Friday: five college transfers and two high school players.

May said the roster is nearly complete, an impressive achievement in his first month on the job.

“It’s fun,” May said when asked about recruiting the transfer portal in an episode of the College Hoops Today podcast published on Monday. “We complain about the portal and all these things a lot. Without it, it would be hard to assemble a competitive roster this quickly.

“Because of our staff -- their ability to recruit, their ability to identify the right types of players, and have the years of equity and trust -- we’ve been able to hit the ground running and put together a roster that we think will be extremely competitive in any conference.”

Here’s a chronological breakdown of the additions:

Friday: Justin Pippen, a 6-foot-3 guard from Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California, committed to Michigan. The son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is ranked No. 139 in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2024 class. There are only 10 uncommitted prospects ranked higher than Pippen -- and Michigan is still involved with two of them -- so this was an important addition for May, who said at his introductory press conference last month that he didn’t want to build his entire inaugural roster through the portal.

Later in the day, Rubin Jones, a 6-foot-5 guard who played the past four seasons at North Texas, announced he was transferring to Michigan. According to his mom, Ashley Jones-Williams, he had committed to Michigan two weeks prior.

Jones is the winningest player in North Texas history, and has an extra year of eligibility due to the NCAA’s COVID-19 waiver. He has played multiple perimeter positions during his career but was the starting point guard last season, averaging 12.1 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.6 rebounds as a senior. May’s Florida Atlantic teams were in the same conference as North Texas throughout Jones’ career.

Saturday: Yale sophomore center Danny Wolf committed to Michigan. He called it a “dream come true” in a social media post, sharing a photo of himself as a youngster decked out in Wolverines gear and holding a signed Michigan-branded basketball.

Wolf is a huge get, and not just because he’s 7-feet. The Illinois native was an All-Ivy League selection after leading Yale with 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game last season. He is a good passer and ball handler as well, and is capable of knocking down the open 3. Since he has two years of eligibility left, he won’t need to be replaced next season.

Sunday: Michigan was reportedly in the mix for both of Auburn’s point guards and ended up with Tre Donaldson, a 6-foot-3 sophomore who has shot better than 40 percent from 3 each of his two college seasons. (The other, Aden Holloway, transferred to Alabama.) The Tigers won the SEC Tournament last season and earned a 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they were upset by Wolf and Yale. Donaldson is a Florida native who was also a star football player in high school.

Monday: Michigan and May maintained the momentum on Monday, adding a pair of transfers: Roddy Gayle Jr. and Sam Walters. Gayle arrives from rival Ohio State, where he was a key player each of the past two seasons, including a season-long starter as a sophomore. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists last season.

Walters, a 6-foot-10 forward, left Alabama after getting to the Final Four as a freshman. Another Florida native, he shot 39 percent from 3 on 99 attempts. The former top-60 recruit averaged 12.3 minutes per game with the Crimson Tide.

Tuesday: May had signed one 2024 prospect to Florida Atlantic before taking the Michigan job. That player, three-star guard Lorenzo Cason, is following May to Michigan. The 6-foot-3 Florida native visited Florida and Michigan before finalizing his decision.

With that flurry of activity, Michigan has filled most of its 13 scholarships for 2024-25. In addition to the aforementioned players, Michigan’s previous coaching staff had signed 2024 recruit Durral Brooks, a guard; sophomore guard George Washington III and redshirt sophomore forward Will Tschetter announced they’d be returning; fifth-year senior forward Jace Howard had previously said he’d be back, but has not made anything official since his dad was fired; two other potential returners, guard Nimari Burnett and forward Terrance Williams II, have not announced their decisions.

“Our roster is almost complete,” May said on the College Hoops Today podcast. “We’ll add another piece or two. It might be youth. It might be someone who is just a fit. … We’re really, really close to having a team that will look like the team we put on the floor in four or five months.”

Around this time the last couple of years, Michigan secured commitments from high-profile players -- transfers and high school recruits -- only for some to be denied by the school’s admissions department. Caleb Love, a North Carolina guard who ended up at Arizona instead, comes to mind.

May was made aware of Michigan’s academic standards during the interview process, both by athletic director Warde Manuel and former coach John Beilein.

“It was one of the first questions I asked and the answers were more than acceptable,” May said.

The good news for concerned Michigan fans? The program has already announced that all but one of the new additions have signed, which makes their commitments official. The lone exception is Wolf, but there’s no reason to believe academics will be an issue with him.

May acknowledged he couldn’t pursue just any player without considering their academic situation, but the fact that Michigan has added not just graduate transfers but underclassmen as well is a great sign.

“There will be cases when it will be a hurdle, without a doubt,” May said. “Those who clear that hurdle are the right types of players for us. It shouldn’t affect us trying to put together a really quality basketball team.”