The Michigan basketball program has undergone a ton of changes over the past few months. After Juwan Howard was fired, the Wolverines landed on Florida Atlantic's Dusty May in a big turn of events. Suddenly, May has worked wonders in the transfer portal with a series of commitments over the past few days.
It continued on Monday with a pair of additions via the portal. The first was Ohio State's Roddy Gayle Jr., per Joe Tipton of On3.
‘BREAKING: Ohio State transfer guard Roddy Gayle Jr. has committed to Michigan, he tells @On3sports. ‘
A couple of hours later, Michigan landed Alabama freshman forward Sam Walters, per Tipton.
‘BREAKING: Alabama transfer forward Sam Walters has committed to Dusty May and Michigan, he tells @On3sports. The 6-9 freshman says he chose the Wolverines over Ohio State, Kentucky, and Louisville. ‘
This adds to the impressive transfer portal haul that Dusty May has already added to the Michigan basketball program in just a matter of weeks. Walters played in 36 games for the Crimson Tide, averaging 5.7 PPG with a pair of rebounds in just north of 12 minutes per game.
Gayle is a sophomore guard and averaged 13.8 PPG with 4.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists. With Chris Holtmann leaving Columbus for DePaul, a lot of Buckeyes players left, and Gayle goes from Columbus to Ann Arbor in a Big Ten twist.
Dusty May's transfer portal surge continues for Michigan
It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks for Dusty May and the Michigan basketball program. With Gayle and Walters coming on board, the updated transfer portal haul is as follows:
- Sam Walters, Alabama
- Danny Wolf, Yale
- Tre Donaldson, Auburn
- Roddy Gayle Jr., Ohio State
- Rubin Jones, North Texas
- 4-star G Justin Pippen
It has been an absolute home run fest for May as the Wolverines aim to get back to national relevancy and push for an NCAA Tournament trip. The Wolverines added a lot of talent and got a commitment from Justin Pippen, a four-star recruit and the son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen.
Gayle had heard from a ton of teams, including Georgia, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Oregon, Creighton, Clemson, Duke, Alabama, and Syracuse. He also took a visit to Creighton before Michigan, but the Wolverines were able to steal him away. He was on hand for the Michigan Spring Game and officially committed days later.
Dusty May took the Florida Atlantic Owls to a Final Four trip in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and now he is putting together a loaded roster at Michigan in hopes of doing the same in Ann Arbor. The transfer portal is far from over, so more moves could be on the way, but May has already done a ton of magic in just a few weeks.