The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 33 2025 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY CLAYTON SAYFIE M ichigan head coach Dusty May said at the end of the 2024-25 season that his team lacked ideal playmaking. The Wolverines will look to make strides this coming year, and North Carolina point guard transfer Elliot Cadeau will be a driving force in making those improve- ments. A 6-foot-1, 180-pounder, Cadeau averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game for North Carolina last season. He created easy buckets for his teammates, dishing out 3.4 assists per contest on shots at the rim to rank in the 99th percentile nationally per CBB Ana- lytics. UNC went 23-14 and was seeded No. 11 in the NCAA Tournament. That came one year after reclassifying to move up one grade and starting as a freshman on a Tar Heels team that fin- ished 15th in the nation in adjusted of- fensive efficiency and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The West Or- ange, N.J., native has already played in 74 career contests with 68 starts. "He's a floor general," UNC writer Zack Pearson of Tar Heels Wire told The Wol- verine. "Right away, you could kind of tell, OK, he's eventually going to start, he's eventually going to be that point guard. Everyone knows, to run the Carolina of- fense, you have a good point guard that can pass, distribute, get out on the fast break — and we saw that." Cadeau struggled with his outside shot early on, making only 18.9 percent of his 53 three-point attempts as a freshman, but was much improved as a sophomore, going 29-of-86 from long range (33.7 per- cent). He played in the backcourt along- side R.J. Davis the last two seasons, giving him ample experience sharing touches ahead of his time at Michigan, which also desires to have multiple primary ball- handlers who can create. "You could see the playmaking abil- ity right away," Pearson said. "The shot struggles were there, but he was that floor general, he was a guy who could lead the offense. "Once he and R.J. Davis got comfort- able together — a freshman and then R.J. was a senior at that time — you saw their chemistry work. That chemistry grew, especially with Elliot, to develop into that playmaking point guard." Cadeau can get into the paint with his quickness and is an elite passer, but that doesn't come without its downsides. He's prone to forcing the issue and finished last season averaging 3.1 turnovers per game. "It wasn't just Elliot; it was the whole team," Pearson said of some of the up- and-down decision-making. "It felt like they were never in sync, and that im- pacted a player like Elliot. "... He'll make those passes, he'll find the backdoor cutter, he'll find the guy in the corner off of the open look. But there are times where he'll make a boneheaded pass in the backcourt, where you have to put a little more mustard on the ball so it's not stolen, things like that." Believing Cadeau can reach great heights in the next two seasons isn't go- ing out on a limb, and a change of scenery would be a big positive. "I think the upside is that he can be one of the best point guards in the country eventually," Pearson opined. "Maybe not as a scorer, but maybe overall as a pure point guard. I think he can get better at scoring. "A change of scenery was probably best. He's a good pickup for Michigan. I know a lot of North Carolina fans were upset he left. The fan base was kind of divided. But I do wish him the best out there." ❏ Playmaker Elliot Cadeau Can Be 'One Of The Best Point Guards In The Country' Cadeau By The Numbers • Cadeau was rated as the No. 14 point guard and No. 72 overall player in the On3 Transfer Portal Ranking this offseason. • His 38.2 percent assist rate ranked 13th- highest in the country, per KenPom analytics. But the same site states that his 26.1 percent turnover rate was the fifth-worst among 114 qualified players last season. • The 20-year-old averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game for North Carolina last season, up from 7.3 points, 4.1 assists and 2.2 rebounds as a freshman in 2023-24. • He was the No. 13 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class and a five-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. • Cadeau averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 as- sists at Link Academy in Missouri, helping his team to a 27-1 record and GEICO Nationals championship in his final year. — Clayton Sayfie Cadeau averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game for North Carolina last season. PHOTO BY MAGGIE HOBSON/COURTESY UNC ATHLETICS