The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 45 2026-27 BASKETBALL PREVIEW something. He's shown flashes. I don't expect him to be a factor, at least right away, this season. Who knows how it will go. But some of the intangibles, some of the skill set that he has, trend toward a guy who can help the program at some point down the road. Now it's a matter of getting him more consistency and more confidence and more improvement on both ends of the floor. You see some of the tools there." LINCOLN COSBY 6-10, 215, FR., F Cosby comes to U-M from Monteverde Acad- emy, where he reclas- sified after averaging 5.8 points and 3.4 re- bounds as a junior. He was ranked the No. 39 player in the country by Rivals and resided among the top 10 recruits nationally for 2027 prior to reclassifying. Cosby sustained an ACL injury that cut his junior season short after averaging 15.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He will be looking to develop and find his way in the early days of his college basketball career. "From all accounts, it sounds like he's going to sit this whole year," Boesch said. "Multiple guys have told me, he's one of the funniest guys on the team. He brings a great mindset. Watching him in some practices, just doing some individual drills, you see the size, you see the upside. It's a bummer we don't get to unwrap that present, most likely, this year, but he's an interesting piece that hopefully stays in Ann Arbor for a while." MARCUS MØLLER 7-3, 230, FR., C T h i s f r e s h m a n 7-footer presents one of the most intriguing stories of the Michi- gan season. Møller an- nounced several months ago he had successfully overcome testicular cancer, and he came to the U.S. from his native Denmark to join the Wolverines. Møller then returned to Denmark this month to undergo more scans to make certain he could be given full medical clearance. Møller delivered 15.9 points and 6.9 re- bounds per game for Unicaja Malaga in Spain in the 2025-26 season. His health remains the top priority, but Møller's coaches and teammates look forward to him being able to show up at Crisler again soon. "With Michigan's size, I don't want to put too much pressure or expectation on somebody like Marcus, but from ev- erything I've seen and in talking to the coaching staff, they didn't expect him to be at this juncture at this time," Boesch said. "Obviously, his health takes pre- cedence in this case. We'll see what he can bring. We're not naive in seeing that Michigan could use more size and a little more help in the front court. "Will that be Marcus Møller at some point this year? Who knows? But cer- tainly where the team and the coaching staff thought he was going to be when he arrived was not even in the same zip code as he was when he got here. He was one of the most pleasant surprises out in Europe. With Thiam not playing, he got a chance to go. A really interesting player, and these days in college basketball, you can never assume anything beyond that given season, but if he's here for a while, Michigan has a shot at having a pretty darned good player." BRANDON MCCOY JR. 6-5, 200, FR., G The headliner of Michigan's freshman class saw his first season in maize and blue torpedoed before even reaching Crisler Arena. Some 20 sec- onds into an exhibition game in Montenegro at the start of U-M's Eu- ropean travel games, McCoy went down with a torn ACL in his right knee. He will miss the entire season and look to come back strong in the 2027-28 season. McCoy came in as a consensus five- star prospect and Rivals' No. 3 player in the nation. The McDonald's All-Amer- ican averaged 19.2 points. 7.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game as a senior for Sierra Canyon High. McCoy would have challenged to start for this year's group of Wolverines had he not been taken out of action by injury. "The thing that jumped out to me most was the way Coach Boynton talked about Brandon," Boesch said. "His work ethic, his mindset. He had a chance to be a really important piece. That's why hav- ing [grad guard] Roddy Gayle Jr. on the roster and hopefully eligible to partici- pate as much as possible this year is so important, because Brandon was going to play, and play a lot. "That's such a bummer. He put in a lot of work for this. When you suffer an in- jury that early on, it's a really, really tough spot for him and for the program." ❏ Newcomers Positioned To Boost Wolverines There is no question Michigan will be a more guard-driven team than it was a season ago when its trio of NBA lottery picks roamed the court. But it's also clear there's plenty of room for the new additions to the U-M roster to contribute in a big way. The Crisler Center faithful witnessed it in Michigan's exhibition shootout against Oregon State on Oct. 16. The Wolverines survived 98-93, paced by the scoring of their veteran backcourt. Senior guard Elliot Cadeau led the way with 27 points, including a 12-for-15 performance from the free throw line. Sophomore Trey McKenney tacked on 18 points, allowing the duo to account for nearly half of Michigan's scoring. The Wolverines also got a big boost from their bevy of new arrivals. Junior center Moustapha Thiam filled up the stat sheet — tossing in 19 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dealing 5 assists. Thiam even dropped a pair of three-pointers on the Beavers to make a huge difference. A pair of additional Wolverines hit or neared double figures in scoring: freshman forward Quinn Costello cashed in 10 points via a pair of three-pointers and a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line, and grad transfer forward J.P. Estrella totaled 9 points, including a three-pointer, and 7 rebounds. Chiam, Costello, Estrella and grad transfer guard Kenny Noland (6 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds) all provided the Wolverines between 31 and 23 minutes of playing time, while grad forward Jalen Reed (4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist) added 16 minutes. Following Michigan's final exhibition of the year against Houston on Oct. 25 at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena, the regular season begins Nov. 2 at Crisler Arena when U-M hosts Oakland. — John Borton