Michigan Basketball Transfer Portal: Wolverines Most Likely to Exit

After the Wolverines won the National Championship last night by beating UConn 69-63, the focus for many Michigan fans has already shifted onto next season. Michigan will for sure lose at least four players in Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Will Tschetter all to graduation. Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. will seemingly have NBA Draft decisions to make following the National title run. Michigan will also welcome a very talented recruiting class for next season, with these six players currently slated to join the program:

5-star Brandon McCoy Jr. — 6'5", 190-pound guard.. No. 14 ranking per the Composite
4- star Quinn Costello — 6'10", 195-pound forward.. No. 31 ranking per the Composite
4-star Lincoln Cosby — 6'8", 195-pound forward.. No. 38 ranking per the Composite
4-star Joseph Hartman — 6'6", 193-pound guard.. No. 79 ranking per the Composite
3-star Malachi Brown — 6'5", 185-pound forward.. No. 196 ranking per the Composite
Marcus Moller — 7'3", 230-pound center.. Unranked

With everything Michigan will lose, and might lose for next year, along with who they're bringing in, Michigan's roster next year will undoubtedly look very different. While it's not fun to always consider, the reality of college basketball is that not everyone who's currently slated to return for Michigan next year will actually do so. Let's dive into who could be on their way out of the Wolverines basketball program via the transfer portal below.

Winters Grady

Winters Grady came to Michigan as a 4-star prospect and top-100 overall recruit. He's listed at 6'6" and 210 lbs. and his first year in Ann Arbor did not go as planned. He thought he would be able to come in and contribute right away but between foot injuries and being blocked on the depth chart, it led to him taking a redshirt season this year. With a lot of highly ranked freshman due to join this program next season that play a similar position, and Trey McKenney also saying he's coming back for next season already, it's possible he decides to look elsewhere for more playing time this off-season.

Malick Kordel

Malick Kordel was also a freshman this past year, and didn't see much playing time in the front court behind Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. Before joining the Wolverines, Kordel played for the Frankfurt Skyliners junior team in Germany's third-tier league and originally chose Michigan over Xavier, Villanova, and Iowa. With Dusty May likely to at least try either bring back Aday Mara or Morez Johnson Jr. (or both if possible), if he's unsuccessful he will need to hit the portal to find some more impact level big men for next year's team and that could cause Kordel to look elsewhere for more minutes next season.

Oscar Goodman

Oscar Goodman joined Michigan as a 4-star recruit and ranked 101st nationally coming out of high school. While he did play some for the Wolverines this year, he didn't play a lot and played almost no minutes in competitive game situations. He did look good in his limited playing time this year, making several nice moves throughout the year in blowout games. He could opt to return to Michigan next year and compete for the role vacated by Will Tschetter, or he could opt for the portal and look to find a starting role at another program for next season.

While Michigan would likely welcome back all of these players for next year, it's just not likely that they would all opt to return to Michigan for next season without a clear chance at playing time. Dusty May has shown that he's willing to go to the transfer portal himself to bring in more good players, and if he does, that may mean Winters Grady, Malick Kordel, and Oscar Goodman all seek more playing time at other programs for next season.