The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS He's definitely taken a huge step this offseason. He's a freak, and I think everybody's going to see that this season." — Trey Pierce on fellow senior defensive tackle Enow Etta PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL I also wouldn't have thought that I would've made the move. We had pretty much committed to being at Michigan for a couple more years since my youngest son, Eli, has two more years [as a student and team manager] at the University of Michigan. It had to be the perfect situation for us to leave Ann Arbor." — Former Michigan head coach Dusty May to Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth on taking the Dallas Mavericks job If you can't beat him … hire him? Since the 1978 FBS/FCS split, Whittingham is the only FBS coach to face Michigan at least three times and go undefeated (3-0). His teams beat Michigan in 2008, 2014 and 2015. … Whittingham's 177 wins are the most in Utah history. Only one other Utah coach eclipsed 100 wins: Ike Armstrong, who had 141 wins from 1925 to 1949." — ESPN, when ranking KYLE WHITTINGHAM the No. 9 coach in college football 92 Overall rating for senior defen- sive end John Henry Daley in the initial release of EA Sports' College Football 27 video game. Yaxel Lendeborg looks incredible. I'm especially loving his passing. He'll be a perfect fit in this War- riors system." — Yahoo Sports analyst Kevin O'Connor, via X 19 Points, 6 assists and 5 re- bounds for former Michi- gan forward YAXEL LEND- EBORG, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, in his Summer League debut July 3 for Golden State against the Los Angeles Lakers. In just 22 minutes, Lend- eborg shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including 4-of-4 from three-point distance. 15 First-round NBA Draft picks over the last 14 drafts (since 2013) for Michigan men's basketball, with three this year in forward Morez Johnson Jr. (No. 9, Dallas Mavericks), forward Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 11, Golden State Warriors) and center Aday Mara (No. 12, Oklahoma City Thunder). That mark leads the Big Ten, followed by UCLA (10), Washington (8), Indiana (7) and Michigan State (6). UCLA and Washington, of course, saw the major- ity of those selections come before they were members of the conference. No. 14 Where college football expert Phil Steele ranked Michigan in his 2026 preseason power poll — his rankings of the best teams regardless of schedule. The Wolverines are No. 15 in his preseason rankings, which do take schedule into account. 4th Where Michigan's women's basketball team ranks in ESPN's "way-too-early" rankings for the 2026-27 season, behind only No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 UConn, and No. 3 Duke. "The noteworthy recruiting class of 2024 — Olivia Olson, Syla Swords, Mila Holloway and Te'Yala Delfosse — will be looking for a Final Four breakthrough after reaching the program's first Elite Eight," Charlie Creme wrote. "The addition of Stanford transfer Courtney Ogden (12.9 ppg) gives coach Kim Barnes Arico that additional scorer who should make the Wolverines the favorites to win the Big Ten." AUGUST 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 17 PHOTO COURTESY GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS