Gophers Eye Michigan Transfer Center from Germany

The transfer portal machine is heating up, and Minnesota appears to be showing interest in Michigan transfer big man Malick Kordel, according to a report from Gophers insider Ryan James on Thursday morning.

7-foot-2 Michigan big man Malick Kordel is an intriguing Gophers’ portal target per @RyanJamesMN👇

He turned 22 last month, would add some much-needed size to Minnesota’s front court. https://t.co/IdLlY5Jl7J pic.twitter.com/qGsbs43veq
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) April 16, 2026

Standing at 7-foot-2, Kordel joined Michigan as a 21-year-old freshman last fall. He started playing competitive basketball in 2021, according to the team's website. Hailing from Oberhausen, Germany, he began playing professionally in 2022-23 for a fourth division club called BSV Wulfen in his home country.

He moved up to a third division club called Iserlohn in 2023-24, before finally joining Fraport Skyliners Juniors in 2024-25, which also competes in the third division. He averaged 11.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in his final season in Germany.

More and more international players have been joining NCAA basketball in recent years, and Kordel made the transition across the pond last fall and joined Michigan, over numerous other top offers.

The Wolverines had arguably the best frontcourt in the country en route to their National Championship, led by Aday Mara, Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg. It would've been hard for just about any big man in the country to crack that rotation, and Kordel was limited to just 14 games.

Michigan won via blowout in every single game that Kordel appeared in, so he was essentially a garbage-time player, but that shouldn't impact his long-term potential. Size is not an easy thing to come by in the transfer portal, and Kordel would fill a serious need for the Gophers.

Kordel is followed by Gophers guard Isaac Asuma, assistant coach Aaron Katsuma and staffer Matt Vogel on Instagram, so it appears the Minnesota interest in mututal. They just recently hosted his Michigan teammate, Winters Grady, on a visit on Wednesday, so things could move fast in Kordel's recruitment.

Mara just showed how quickly players can improve in the right system. He averaged 9.5 minutes per game in his first season at UCLA, and he developed into a potential first-round prospect at Michigan. Kordel might not be the same level of talent as Mara, but it's important not to overreact to stats when a player is lost on the bench of a great team.

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Grayson Grove are set to return to Minnesota's frontcourt next season. Adding a player with Kordel's size would give them a much-needed bruiser they were missing in Big Ten play last season.

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