Yale transfer Danny Wolf commits to Michigan basketball
Michigan Wolverines basketball landed a huge addition, with Yale forward transfer Danny Wolf becoming new head coach Dusty May‘s second transfer commitment after reeling in North Texas guard Rubin Jones one day earlier. Wolf, who entered the NCAA transfer portal March 29, hosted May for an in-home visit Tuesday night (April 2). ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news.
The 7-foot, 255-pounder played two seasons for the Bulldogs and has two years of eligibility remaining. Other schools in contention to land Wolf include Duke, North Carolina, Northwestern and others.
Wolf is the No. 18 overall player in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason, checking in as the fifth-best center, per On3’s rankings.
Earning first-team All-Ivy honors, Wolf led Yale with 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game last season, also contributing 2.4 assists in 30.8 minutes per clash while starting 31 of 32 outings.
His 29.1-percent defensive rebounding rate ranked 10th in the country, per Kenpom. Wolf shot 50.7 percent on twos (141-of-278), 34.9 percent on threes (29-of-83), and 71.4 percent on free throws (65-of-91).
Wolf played both on the inside and excelled on the perimeter for Yale last season. He generated 0.925 points per post-up possession (including passes), which ranked in the 56th percentile in the country, per Synergy. He finished on 58.2 percent of his shots at the rim (56th percentile) and made 43.5 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts. Many of those came in pick-and-pops, with Wolf shooting 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) on three-pointers in those situations.
The Bulldogs finished 23-10, getting by Brown in the Ivy League Tournament championship game to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. The No. 13 seed took down No. 4 seed Auburn, 78-76, in the first round, with Wolf posting 134 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Yale head coach James Jones said in January that “many pro teams” were attending Bulldogs’ practices to watch Wolf.
Prior to the 2023-24 campaign, the Michigan commit shined at the FIBA U20 European Championship played in Heraklion, Greece. Playing for Israel, Wolf averaged 17.7 points, 12 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest. In his first-ever FIBA competition, Wolf was the tournament’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, and was named to the All-Star Five. He posted a double-double in five of seven games.
The Glencoe, Ill., native came off the bench in 20 games as a freshman for Yale in 2022-23. He registered 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game. He shot 41.7 percent on twos (10-of-24) and 31.6 percent on threes (6-of-19).
Wolf played on the Nike EYBL circuit with Mac Irvin Fire, the same program that Michigan players Jace Howard, Nimari Burnett and Ian Burns were once a part of. An unranked recruit in the 2022 class, Wolf played high school basketball at Northfield Mount Hermon in Gill, Mass. Former Michigan guard Spike Albrecht (2012-16) played for the esteemed prep program.
