Michigan basketball: FAU center Vlad Goldin following Dusty May to Ann Arbor
The Michigan Wolverines are getting some major help at center in the transfer portal with Florida Atlantic center Vlad Goldin joining former head coach Dusty May in Ann Arbor. He has one year of eligibility remaining and will likely have a major role at Michigan.
Goldin had previously announced that he would declare for the 2024 NBA Draft while also maintaining his collegiate eligibility and potentially staying at FAU.
Last season in Boca Raton, Goldin (7-1, 240 pounds) averaged 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 67.3% from the field, which was third-best in college basketball. He started his college career at Texas Tech in 2020-21, playing in 10 games and averaging 4.7 minutes per night.
It was under the now-Michigan coach at FAU that Goldin took off, transferring there in 2021-22 and starting 33 of 34 games with 6.8 points per contest along with 4.9 rebounds. He started all 39 games during FAU’s Final Four run last season with 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds each night.
“I want to start off by thanking everyone who has supported me over the years,” Goldin said when he entered the portal and declared for the draft. “It has been an unbelievable time at Florida Atlantic. We have done some amazing things here that I will remember for the rest of my life. I want to also personally thank all my teammates and coaches. I will never forget what we have built all together. I am excited to open this new chapter of my life.
“With that being said, I am declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft while retaining my collegiate eligibility and with the consideration of returning to FAU.”
May touched on the potential of his former players at Florida Atlantic joining him at Michigan when he was introduced to the media after his hiring. He wanted to keep the focus on their personal decisions instead of pushing them in a particular direction.
“We met as a group and in several of them individually when I left,” May said. “They had a range of emotions. Right now they’re focused on FAU and I don’t think any of them are in the portal. But right now I don’t know.
“I want that place to continue to sustain success and I’ll do everything I can to help that. Those questions we ask later. I don’t know right now.”
There’s still plenty of work to do in the portal, and May says that Michigan will be very throughout in its pursuit of potential roster fits.
“We’re going to cast a big net. We’ll narrow it down, we’ll be very patient because we’re not going to take the wrong guys because we have several spots. We’re going to be very thorough but we need to understand that we need to be right, we need to do our research in advance and make sure we make very calculated decisions because there’s a lot of options, and they’re not all great options.”
Keep it locked here for the latest in the Michigan roster build and more as May’s program takes shape.
