Michigan Friday: Good News - Bad News Friday

It's always easier to start with the bad news and then you can end with the good.  Michigan Hockey lost in double OT to Denver last night.  Which is such a brutal result for length of game and getting so close to Michigan's second Natty for the week. 

Also big 7'2 German Center Malick Kordel is jumping into the portal.  I thought we were pretty close to seeing Malick get some real time this past season when both Mara and Rez were in foul trouble but we only saw the big man in garbage time.  Good luck to him at his next stop.  

Now to the good news portion of the program:

Elliott Cadeau is back for Michigan.  This wasn't a real mystery as it expected that both Cadeau and McKinney are both back, but its always nice to have an official announcement. 

Also Tennessee 6'11 Forward JP Estrella has committed to Michigan from the portal.  He averaged 10 points and 5 boards per game for the Volunteers.   Welcome JP! 

A number of other transfer portal prospects are expected to be on campus this weekend to witness the Parade and what's it like to be a Michigan Wolverine! 

Have a good weekend and Enjoy the Masters and the National Championship Parade on Saturday! 

Michigan Thursday: News and Notes

• Freshman Guard Winters Grady who had a foot injury early this season is in the transfer portal and looking for a new home, he will have 4 years of eligibility left.  We wish him well! 

• Seems that Wake Forest 6'7 guard Juke Harris is planning on visiting Ann Arbor this weekend.  Juke averaged 21 points per game and put 19 on Michigan when they played this season.  Yes, Please! 

• Pippen who transferred from Michigan to CAL is back in the portal again.

• Coach Whitt says Spring Game will be mostly for the 2 and 3's. 

• RB Micah Ka’apana suffered a lower leg injury and will be out for the season. That guy has had incredibly bad luck so far with injuries. 

• Michigan is starting to trend for recent visitor in 4-star QB Kamden Lopati who is currently an Illinois commit.

• Former Michigan Guard Tre Donaldson is turning pro. He was at Miami last season.

Wolverine Wednesday: A Day To Reflect

It's been a day and I'm still happy but not grasping the impact of this team.   The Fab 5 changed the game but after back to back National Championship games, they left without the trophy.  Coach B had some great teams and that block was clean!   Even though Louisville got that Natty taken away, Michigan again did not leave with the trophy. 

Dusty inherited a program on fire and went into the portal and convinced a couple of bigs to join the team.  That laid the groundwork for this years portal recruitment and he grabbed the top player and 3 under the radar players.  He recruited skill but he also recruited personality, both were great fit for Ann Arbor and what Dusty wanted to do.  Getting a handful of players to stay and mix in talented portal players, this team became the best basketball team in the history of the program.

I'm incredibly happy but I'm already missing this team with the anticipation of the next game. 

Quick question to the BHB inmates:  What are your thoughts on the National Championship gear?  I felt a little burned after the Football NC.  I bought a ton of stuff, it was expensive and also very low quality.  I'm concerned the basketball national championship gear is similar and I'm being very careful on my selections. 

• It's ridiculous that Dusty was on Zoom meetings with potential portal prospects on Tuesday morning. 

• Michigan with new 5-star commit McCoy has the #2 ranked high school recruiting class for 2026.  With LJ taking a redshirt, there is going to be a lot of time for young players depending on who jumps in and out to the portal. 

• Early names in the portal Dusty maybe looking at include: Wisconsin's John Blackwell, Kansas Flory Bidunga, and SDSU Miles Byrd. 

National Champions Tuesday: Those That Stay

Jacob Hamilton | jhamilt3/mlive.com/TNS

When we saw this team for the first time, we thought they could bring a National Championship to Ann Arbor.  When we saw the team play in Vegas, we thought they might go undefeated.  The team Dusty put on the floor this year was special and last night they proved it again, in a much different way. 

Dan Hurley might be a crazy man but he can coach basketball and he did all he could to derail the Wolverines last night.  As expected,  they slowed down the pace and tried to shoot the Wolverines out of the gym.  Whether it was Michigan's solid defense or the Husky shooters were just off, that plan failed.  Michigan was too big and too talented to lose on Monday night.  

Before I get to the star of the game, a huge hat tip goes to Yax.  His performance last night in my mind goes right up there with Isiah Thomas playing on a severely sprained ankle against the Lakers in the NBA Finals.   He gutted out 13 points in 36 minutes and didn't even come off the floor in the first half.  Now to Elliott Cadeau, the star of the game.  Michigan had a limited Yax, zero 3 point shooting for most of the game, and early Mara was not scoring down low.  This was setting up to be a Hurley special and Cadeau said no, thank you, this is our year! He lead the Wolverines with 19 points and instead of assisting he stepped up and scored a ton of big baskets.  He had one of his best scoring games of the year during the biggest game.  

UConn hit nine 3 point shots during the game and the Wolverines only made 2.  The difference in the game was Michigan scoring 25 points from the free throw line and UConn clearly being in foul trouble all game.  UConn only had 12 points from the line.  

The game wasn't pretty, it was a tough defensive match-up as both teams struggled to shoot the ball.  Michigan who had scored 90 points in every tournament game only managed to put up 69 points.   Still that was enough to beat the Huskies. I would also be remiss if I didn't call out McKinney who hit a huge late 3 and made 2 important free throws after Gayle had missed two from the line.  Those points from McKinney made it very difficult for UConn to make a Duke game comeback.

Dusty has done a tremendous job turning this program around and last night netted him and Michigan a National Championship.  I still think I'm in shock, I 100% know I was when Gayle threw the ball down the court to close out the game. To quote Dusty, "it still feels like we have another game to prepare for" It's going to be a really long day at work as I'm 100% gassed.  

Congratulations to this team, the Michigan Program, and to us!  We deserve nights like last night and I hope we have many more to come! 

Go Blue to the National Champions! 

• A sign this process never sleeps:  The transfer portal opened at Midnight last night while the Wolverines were celebrating in the locker room.  The staff had it opened and scouting for next year.