The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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10 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2026 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Michigan senior defensive tackle Jonah Lea'ea came to U-M from Utah with high hopes to contribute, and he has. His pick six helped lead a blowout victory over UTEP, and he's been a valuable part of the DT rota- tion. He talks about his first several months with the Wolverines in this Q&A. The Wolverine: Losing two games before the bye week was probably not what you envisioned. What makes you optimistic this team can turn it around? Jonah Lea'ea: "We're right there. Last year, we had a pretty good season at our last school [Utah], but in terms of the talent, this team's pretty high up there. "What needs to happen next is you just need to put your head down and work, commit to what you're do- ing. We're right there. You can feel it in the building." The Wolverine: The defense is doing its part, but the offense really struggled through five games. Does it appear they are getting closer to figuring it out after a bye week? Lea'ea: "It definitely does. I think the [Minnesota] game was a wake-up call for everyone. I also think it's important for us as a defense to focus on ourselves. Obviously, we're going to want to try to bring our teammates along with us, but at the end of the day, I can't control what they're doing [on offense]. So, I'm not going to get on them too much about it." The Wolverine: You and your fellow defensive tack- les are continuing to compete for playing time behind Trey Pierce and Enow Etta. How has that made you better, even closer as a group when you're battling with each other? Lea'ea: "It helps a lot because it just allows us to fully commit to competing instead of trying to be nice with each other. We're all there to try to play, so that mindset that [D-line coach Larry Black] has brought to all of us, it's something that's been huge this season. "When you hear [tough competition], you're prob- ably thinking we're in there like punching each other. But we're all pretty close. We go to Texas Roadhouse pretty often as a group." The Wolverine: You're one of several Polynesian players Kyle Whittingham has coached, and one of a few on this team with more on the way. What makes you guys so close? Lea'ea: "You can go to any college team in America and find Polyne- sians that are close. But that was a big emphasis this year, because it's a building number. So, we're trying to get more over here. Us being close is definitely a big thing." — Chris Balas ❱ Sitting Down With Michigan Defensive Tackle Jonah Lea'ea The Columbus Dispatch released its 10th- annual Big Ten Media poll, and the Michigan men's basketball team checked in No. 3 head- ing into the 2026-27 season. Twenty-eight me- dia members from across the league partici- pated in voting. The Maize and Blue stood behind only No. 1 Illinois and No. 2 Michigan State. The Fighting Illini tallied 18 first-place votes, while Michigan State recorded nine first-place tallies. Michigan was awarded one first-place vote. Illinois received 488 total points, ahead of Michigan State (483) and Michigan (436). There was a steep drop-off after the Wolverines, with No. 4 UCLA coming in with 375 votes. Michigan senior guard Elliot Cadeau and sophomore guard Trey McKenney were listed as preseason All-Big Ten first-team selections. The other first-team members were Michi- gan State guard Jer- emy Fears Jr., the lone unanimous selection, Nebraska forward Pryce Sandfort and Illinois for- ward David Mirkovic. There were no Wol- verines on the second team, but junior center Moustapha Thiam, a Cincinnati transfer, re- ceived five preseason All-Big Ten votes. He also received votes for the Big Ten Transfer of the Year, which went to Illinois guard Stefan Vaaks (Providence). The second team was made up of Wiscon- sin big man Nolan Winter, Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr., USC guard Rodney Rice, Illinois guard Andrej Stojakovic and Indiana center Aiden Sherrell. — Clayton Sayfie U-M MEN'S BASKETBALL PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN BIG TEN Sophomore guard Trey McKenney joined senior guard Elliot Cadeau as a preseason All-Big Ten first-team selection according to media votes. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL LAST 10 SEASONS Preseason Postseason Season Big Ten Rank Placement Record (Conf. Record) 2026-27 3rd — — 2025-26 2nd 1st 37-3 (19-1) 2024-25 9th T-2nd 27-10 (14-6) 2023-24 11th 14th 8-24 (3-17) 2022-23 3rd T-5th 18-16 (11-9) 2021-22 1 T-7 19-15 (11-9) 2020-21 6 1 23-5 (14-3) 2019-20 5 9 19-12 (10-10) 2018-19 2 3 30-7 (15-5) 2017-18 T-5 T-4 33-8 (13-5) First-Place Rank Team Points Votes 1 Illinois 498 18 2 Michigan State 483 9 3 Michigan 436 1 4 UCLA 375 0 5 Nebraska 369 0 6 Purdue 347 0 7 USC 340 0 8 Ohio State 324 0 9 Indiana 292 0 10 Iowa 264 0 11 Wisconsin 240 0 12 Maryland 203 0 13 Minnesota 168 0 14 Oregon 147 0 15 Washington 116 0 16 Northwestern 88 0 17 Rutgers 68 0 18 Penn State 35 0 Lea'ea returned an interception 9 yards for a touchdown against UTEP earlier in the 2026 season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL