The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 37 2026-27 BASKETBALL PREVIEW Numbers 2 National championships in program his- tory: 1989 and 2026. Michigan beat How- ard (101-80), Saint Louis (95-72), Alabama (90-77), Tennessee (95-62), Arizona (91-73) and Connecticut (69-63) on its way to the title last year. 3rd In the Big Ten is where Michigan was picked in the Big Ten media poll conducted by The Columbus Dispatch. The Wolverines received one first-place vote and checked in behind No. 1 Illinois and No. 2 Michigan State. 6 Nonconference games scheduled against high-major competition this season, in- cluding the opportunity for at least one more at the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas the week of Thanksgiving. The Wolverines are slated to compete against Connecticut (Nov. 6), Marquette (Nov. 11), Villanova (Nov. 21), Creighton (Nov. 24), Louisville (Dec. 5) and either TCU or Miami (Nov. 25). 10 Newcomers on the roster, with six freshmen in guard Brandon Mc- Coy Jr., forward Lincoln Cosby, forward Quinn Costello, guard Joseph Hartman, guard Malachi Brown and center Mar- cus Møller along with four transfers in center Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati), forward Jalen Reed (LSU), forward J.P. Estrella (Tennessee) and guard Kenny Nol and (Connecticut). 13th-best Player in the transfer por- tal is where junior center Moustapha Thiam ranked this past offseason, per On3. The 7-foot-2, 250-pounder joined the team from Cincinnati, where he averaged 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 27.2 minutes per game while earning All-Big 12 honorable mention rec- ognition last season. 23-8 Record for Michigan in 1989- 90, the season after it won the program's first-ever national champion- ship. The Wolverines lost to Bo Kimble and Loyola Marymount 149-115 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 28th Is where Michigan checked in on KenPom's preseason efficiency ratings — 31st on offense and 25th on de- fense. The analytics site projects the Wolverines will finish the regular season 19-11 with an 11-9 mark in Big Ten play. Last season, Michigan entered the year No. 11 on KenPom and fin- ished No. 1 with the fourth-best offense and top-ranked defense. 119-109 Record for Mike Boynton Jr. as the head coach of Oklahoma State from 2017-24. He made the NCAA Tournament once as a No. 4 seed and fell in the second round. 146 Career games played for fifth-year senior guard RODDY GAYLE JR., who's currently eligible for the 2026-27 season on a court injunction in his home state of New York. He played 75 contests with the Wolverines from 2024-26 and 71 with Ohio State from 2022-24. For his career, Gayle has averaged 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. 233 Assists for senior guard Elliot Cadeau in 2025-26, tied with Gary Grant (1987-88) for the fifth-best single-season mark in program his- tory. The only players ahead of them are Trey Burke (260 in 2012-13), Zavier Simpson (244 in 2019-19; 236 in 2019-20) and Darius Morris (235 in 2010-11). They aren't the rim protectors Mara and Johnson were, but they have size, and they're hopeful LSU transfer Jalen Reed, coming back from injury that limited him to a handful of games last year, will also contribute. The 6-9, 245-pounder is more an inside scorer and is talented, but he's only played 14 games the last two seasons due to his injuries. "I think he's going to be better than people [might expect]," Boynton said. "We've seen him practice. He's pretty good. I think he may surprise people in terms of what he's able to do coming off an injury." Freshman Marcus Møller (7-3, 230) has shown flashes of being able to con- tribute, and junior Oscar Goodman will also be in the mix. Thiam, though, is the gem here, and they're expecting big things. "He's a rim protector in the mold of Aday, but he moves laterally a little bit better," Boynton said. "He runs faster. He's got [former U-M big man] Danny [Wolf's] playmaking ability in terms of being able to push it on the break, but he's a little bit bigger than Danny, a little bit more athletic. He can shoot the ball … can make threes in stand- still, catch-and-shoot situations, and he can finish around the rim, sort of like [big man] Vlad [Goldin] did. "He's got a little bit of all their games, and we're trying to bring out the best of those things with what our team needs from him, which starts with his rim pressure in pick-and-rolls with Elliot. But it's also his ability to run the floor and then protect the rim on defense, which has been a staple of our best de- fensive moments the last two years." Finally, frosh Costello has proven to be an absolute sniper in the early going, and he will contribute in PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL