The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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62 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2025 J unior Justice Haynes and sophomore Jordan Marshall only played in the first several se- ries of the April 19 spring game, but that scrimmage wa s ju st one re a son to further the belief that the Wolverines have another two-headed mon ster i n the backfield. Taking big hits and run- ning through contact all a f ternoon, Ma rsha l l ra n for 100 hard-earned yards in the Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama to cap off the 2024 season. Haynes, meanwhile, was a member of that Crimson Tide team — ranking sixth in the SEC w ith 5.7 yards per carry — and was one of the biggest transfer- portal additions for head coach Sher- rone Moore heading into his second season at the helm. "I'd love to do that every ga me," Marshall said with a smile, when asked if the bowl game performance is sus- tainable. "It's not ideal, but if that's what it comes to, yes. But that's why you bring another great back in." Michigan has long had great back- field duos, with a lot of the program's recent success hinging on it. Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum, Donovan Ed- wards and Kalel Mullings all played major roles from 2021-24 — and Mar- shall and Haynes are the next in line. Marshall's bowl game performance gave Michigan fans a glimpse, but the Wolverines lacked a solid No. 2 back. Haynes' two-year career at Alabama and then 56-yard performance in the spring game at U-M gave the Michigan faithful a look at what will be a key part of the offense this fall. "Justice and I don't care who's in the game. We're going to rotate," Marshall said. "You see what he did and what I did. We're going to run this thing." It takes unselfishness to split carries the way Marshall and Haynes are ex- pected to this fall, but it's also the best course of action to have a strong rota- tion — especially at U-M, where having a stellar run game is tradition. "He's a great guy, and I'm so glad he chose Michigan. I get to be pushed by him, and he gets to get pushed by me every single day," Marshall said. THE TWO-POINT BATTLE A friend texted Michigan head coach Dusty May back in January, asking how the Wolverines had such a high two- point field goal percentage, with his team leading the nation for much of the first two-plus months of the season. His response: "When you have shoot- ing and you have [center] V lad[islav Goldin], you're probably going to be a good two-point percentage team." Two- and three-point shooting work together, of course. Good jump shoot- ing creates better spacing, and that can be taken advantage of in getting to the rim. The ability to get to the basket and score opens up jump shots, at the same time. The Wolverines' percentages tailed off as the season went on — especially from long range — but they finished shooting 56.7 percent from inside the arc (20th nationally) The interior de- fen se wa s outsta nd i ng, too, a llow ing opponents to connect on only 46 per- cent of their twos (13th). It's hard for a team with those numbers to not win a lot of games — and Michi- gan stacked 27 victories. T h e Wo l v e r i n e s l o s t G old i n a nd ju n ior for- ward/center Danny Wolf, t h e i r t w o s e v e n-f o o t starters from last season, but have made some big- time replacements to the front cou rt. U-M added fo r w a rd s M o re z Jo h n- son Jr. (Illinois) and Yaxel L endeborg (UA B) a long w it h center Ad ay M a ra (UCL A). L endeborg, the No. 1 transfer this offseason, is going through the draft process but will play at U-M if he withdraws. Johnson has Big Ten experience and will open up second-chance opportunities as well as serve as a rim protector. Mara, mean- while, is massive at 7-foot-3 and was a crucial pickup given that the Wolver- ines didn't have a player over 6-foot-9 before he signed. The efficiency of those three top-50 transfers in the portal per On3's rank- ings will help U-M find that sweet spot with two-point field goal percentage on both ends of the floor next season, one of the most important statistical groupings in the sport. Last season, Johnson shot 64.2 per- cent on twos, wh i le Ma ra (59) a nd Lendeborg (54.9) also had strong num- bers from inside the arc. Take a look at this chart (above) from CBB Analytics and see how many good teams are in the top right quadrant. U-M's transfer portal finds have put it in really good position to end up there again. ❏ SAYFIE BLITZ ❱ CLAYTON SAYFIE Another Two-Headed Monster The Michigan men's basketball team ranked among the nation's best in both two- point field goal percentage and two-point field goal percentage defense last season. Dusty May is building a Year 2 roster with the intent to remain in the upper right quadrant of this chart. IMAGE COURTESY CBB ANALYTICS Staff writer Clayton Sayfie has covered Michigan athletics for The Wolverine since 2019. Contact him at Clayton.Sayfie @on3.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @CSayf23.