Michigan basketball scholarship chart following addition of 2023 four-star center Papa Kante
Michigan Wolverines basketball landed 2023 South Kent (Mich.) School four-star center Papa Kante Thursday night. It’s time to take a look at the Maize and Blue’s scholarship situation and how Kante impacts it.
At 6-10, 225 pounds, Kante is the No. 32 overall player and fourth-best center nationally per On3. The lone member of the Wolverines’ 2023 class chose Michigan over fellow finalists Maryland, Memphis, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.
Here’s a look at Michigan’s scholarship chart as of Oct. 21, followed by our analysis.
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How Michigan got here
After Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate became the Wolverines’ second and third one-and-done prospects of this century, Michigan made some late additions to its 2022-23 roster, bringing in two graduate transfers — point guard Jaelin Llewellyn (Princeton) and wing Joey Baker (Duke) — and a foreign recruit in freshman wing Youssef Khayat (Beirut, Lebanon).
Between five freshmen and two incoming transfers, seven of Michigan’s 13 scholarship players are newcomers. There are no returning seniors or graduates.
What’s next?
As it stands now, Michigan has either none or one scholarship left to offer heading into the 2023-24 season. However, it’s unlikely for a number of reasons that U-M won’t add another player before then.
First, junior center Hunter Dickinson could well depart for the professional ranks after this season. Secondly, Llewellyn will have an extra year of eligibility due to his COVID season, but it’s too early to predict if he will get invited back and accept an offer to return for another season. Thirdly, there’s almost always attrition to the transfer portal in today’s college basketball.
With that in mind, Michigan isn’t the favorite for any other 2023 recruits. The top remaining target is Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler five-star point guard Isaiah Collier, and the staff has gone all in. USC is the heavy favorite, though, sitting at 93.4 percent on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) ahead of his Nov. 16 announcement.
Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade Julienne four-star combo guard George Washington III was in for an early-October visit. Denver Colorado Prep forward Baye Ndongo remains uncommitted (but Michigan now has a big man pledge), and Australian wing Alex Toohey is currently on his official visit in Ann Arbor but doesn’t hold a known offer. The Maize and Blue aren’t in the mix for any other uncommitted prospects.
2024 outlook
Michigan got an early start to the 2024 recruiting class, with Atlanta Lovett three-star point guard Christian Anderson pledging over a year ago. The high-level shooter will join the program ahead of the 2024-25 season.
As it stands now, Michigan has three more scholarship spots for that roster, but that number will only grow with attrition (and potentially decrease again with the potential of adding to the 2023 class).
The Maize and Blue have plenty of options in 2024, leading with three prospects per the RPM.
