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Athlon Sports picks Michigan hoops to finish 11th in Big Ten

Anthony Broomeby: Anthony Broome10/01/24anthonytbroome
Dusty May
Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four. (Photo by Michigan basketball / Instagram)

The Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball program is getting ready to kick off its first season under head coach Dusty May and as the ramp up to the new year gets going, the preseason publications are weighing in on the expectations in Ann Arbor.

Athlon Sports picked the Wolverines to finish 11th in the new-look Big Ten, which could put them right on the edge of NCAA Tournament consideration in the first year under May. Indiana, Purdue, UCLA, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan State, Oregon, Washington, Rutgers and USC are all rated ahead of Michigan.

“Not only did Michigan attract the sport’s hottest coaching prospect – FAU’s Dusty May – the Wolverines landed the fifth-best transfer class, per EvanMiya.com. The anticipated top six players in Michigan’s rotation – including FAU center Vlad Goldin – all hail from the portal. There were rumors that Michigan was behind in the NIL game, but something must have changed after the school’s worst season in 65 years.”

Athlon picked the Wolverines to finish 11th in the new-look Big Ten, which could put them right on the edge of NCAA Tournament consideration in the first year under May. Indiana, Purdue, UCLA, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan State, Oregon, Washington, Rutgers and USC are all rated ahead of Michigan.

Here was the rundown in the conference preview portion of the magazine:

Good news: New boss Dusty May went wild in the portal bringing 7-footer Vlad Goldin with him along with five more prime-time vets.

Bad news: Are there enough wings to match other team’ fabulous perimeter players?

Our call: Out of the Big Ten’s basement and onto the NCAA bubble.

Goldin was an easy pick for the magazine in terms of candidates for postseason awards, but a handful of other names were also singled out by the publication.

“Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf were decorated big men at their former schools, while imported guard Roddy Gayle Jr., Rubin Jones and Tre Donaldson also have all-league upside,” Athlon writes.

But there could be a potential dark horse in the mix as a big-time contributor in the form of forward Sam Walters, the transfer from Alabama.

“The 6-10 lefty averaged just 12.3 minutes per game for the Final Four-bound Crimson Tide, but always stretched the floor with his .391 3-point percentage,” they said.

Michigan is currently working itself into shape for the leadup to the 2024-25 season. May, Goldin and Wolf will be representing the program at Big Ten Basketball Media Days in Chicago on Thursday. The team will hold an exhibition scrimmage for Forgotten Harvest against Oakland University at Little Caesars Arena in Downtown Detroit on Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.

The season gets underway on Nov. 4 at Crisler Center against Cleveland State.

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