The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520409
JUNE/JULY 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 39 2024 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY CHRIS BALAS D usty May made it clear when he accepted the Michigan basketball head coaching job in March that he was going to be aggressive on the recruiting trail. He proved he was serious when he landed eight players in six weeks, and he took it up a notch when he poached guard Roddy Gayle Jr. from Ohio State April 22. Gayle pledged to the Wolverines after a weekend visit in which he attended the U-M football team's spring game April 20, toured the facilities, and got to know the coaches and remaining players. He heard from Georgia, Gonzaga, Tennes- see, Oregon, Creighton, Clemson, Duke, Alabama and Syracuse after entering the portal, but May acted quickly to get him to visit Ann Arbor. While Gayle reportedly saw Creighton before U-M, sources believed Michi- gan was in a very good place during the weekend visit, and that proved to be the case. Gayle finished third on the Buckeyes in scoring with 13.4 points per game last year, adding 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists. The shooting guard was On3's No. 62 player nationally in the 2022 class and No. 8 shooting guard. He played two sea- sons in Columbus, and has two years of eligibility remaining. He was the 75th- best overall player in the portal this year per the On3 rankings. A 6-foot-4, 210-pounder, Gayle shot 51.3 percent on two-point shots (140-of- 273), 28.2 percent on triples (29-of-103) and 83.2 percent on free throws (119- of-143). He had one of the best games of his career against West Virginia when he scored 32 points Dec. 30, 2023, in an overtime win. "I'm really high on Gayle," Letterman Row's Andy Backstrom said. "I thought that him entering the transfer portal was a big loss for Ohio State. He's got NBA potential, even more so than a guy like [OSU sophomore guard] Bruce Thorn- ton, who's a really good college player. Gayle is 6-4 and he's got insane athleti- cism. He's the kind of guy that can have a game-changing dunk at any moment. "He's as good a two-way player as he wants to be. Sometimes he doesn't play to his potential on the defensive end, but he's a guy who likes to be coached hard. He likes to be held accountable, and when a coach can get the most out of him … he can be a really good defensive player and a spark on that end of the floor." Gayle ran 226 ball-screen possessions (including passes), generating 0.934 points per play for the Buckeyes last year on those plays. He struggled a bit with his jump shot efficiency, notching a 38.4 effective field goal percentage, and took 77 jumpers off the dribble with a 39 per- cent effective field goal percentage. The Buckeyes finished an up-and- down season with a 22-14 record, after which head coach Chris Holtmann was fired in February. Assistant Jake Diebler got the job — ironically, May was con- sidered the other "finalist" — and while Diebler reportedly had a great relation- ship with Gayle, his player opted for his top rival. "The game slows down for them a lit- tle bit once they see the game more and know what to expect," Holtmann said after a game in December, discussing Gayle. "I think you're seeing the game slow down for him. His paint reads need to get better. Where's the right opportu- nity? Just in general, his handle last year and at times this year is too loose. He's got to tighten it. "We want to be able to play through him. We ran a middle drive opportunity for him, and he made a really good drive. He's hard to keep out of the paint. We want to be able to play through him and a couple other guys late." Now, it will be Michigan coaches who get that opportunity after landing a key piece to their 2024-25 team. ❏ Crossing The Border Michigan Poaches Ohio State Standout Roddy Gayle Jr. From The Portal Gayle By The Numbers • Gayle was the No. 75 player available over- all in the On3 transfer portal tracker, and the No. 12 shooting guard. • He shot only 28.4 percent from three- point range as a sophomore, but he made 42.9 percent of his attempts as a true freshman (21 of 49). • The Youngstown, N.Y., native played at Wasatch Academy in Utah. He was No. 62 overall in the On3 Industry Ranking and the No. 8 shooting guard overall. • He scored a career-high 32 points last sea- son in a 78-75 win over West Virginia Dec. 31, making 11 of 21 field goals and 3 of 7 triples. He added 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the OSU win. — Chris Balas Gayle finished third on the Buckeyes in scoring with 13.4 points per game last year, and also aver- aged 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists. PHOTO COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETICS