2026–27 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

The Wolverines finished the 2025–26 season with a record of 37–3, setting a program record for wins. They finished 19–1 in conference play to win the Big Ten regular season, and set a Big Ten record for conference wins. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they advanced to the championship and lost to Purdue.^[1] The Wolverines received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, and won the national championship for the second time in program history, and first time since 1989.^[2]

After suffering a torn ACL late in the 2025–26 season, L.J. Cason will redshirt this season.^[3][4][5] Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau were the first to announce they were returning this season.^[6] Oscar Goodman and Ricky Liburd soon after confirmed their plan to return.^[7][8] On April 8, Winters Grady was the first player to enter the NCAA transfer portal.^[9] On April 9, Malick Kordel was the second player to enter the transfer portal.^[10] That same day, the Wolverines received their first transfer portal commitment from redshirt-junior J. P. Estrella, a forward for the Tennessee Volunteers. He started 13 games and averaged ten points per game the previous season.^[11] On April 17, Kordel and Grady both announced they transferred to play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.^[12] On April 23, Michigan received their second transfer portal commitment from Jalen Reed, a graduate student and forward from the LSU Tigers. Reed suffered season-ending injuries the previous two seasons, playing in only 14 games and averaging just over ten points per game.^[13]

On April 24, Aday Mara, Morez Johnson Jr. and Cadeau declared for the 2026 NBA draft, while maintaining their NCAA eligibility through the draft process.^[14][15][16] That same day, the Wolverines gained their third transfer portal commitment from junior Moustapha Thiam, a 7'2" center from the Cincinnati Bearcats. He started 31 games as a sophomore and averaged 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.^[17] As a freshman, he started 34 games for the UCF Knights and was fourth in the nation in total blocks.^[18] On May 1, the NBA announced its 73-player NBA draft combine invitation list and another 44-player NBA G League combine invitation list. Yaxel Lendeborg, Mara and Johnson were on the NBA combine list. Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Cadeau were not on either official invite list.^[19][20] However, Burnett attended the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.^[21] On May 16, Cadeau withdrew from the NBA draft.^[22] On July 13, Cason notified the program he would be the lone player to enter the portal following the departure of Dusty May on June 22.^[23] He transferred to play for the Miami Hurricanes.^[24]

On July 31, following the Wisne v. NCAA ruling, Gayle declared that he would pursue a fifth year of college basketball.^[25] On August 19, guard Kenny Noland of the Columbia Lions transferred to Michigan after being granted an additional season in the NCAA ruling. He was second-team All-Ivy League, averaging 17.1 points per game as a senior.^[26] Noland had signed a professional contract in Germany with the Artland Dragons in July before returning to college.^[27] On August 21, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit halted the order that granted eligibility for 2022 high school graduates, rendering Gayle and Noland ineligible at least temporarily.^[28] However, Noland is actively involved in a separate lawsuit in North Carolina, which would not be subject to the pause in the federal injunction.^[29] Both players accompanied the program to Europe in August and practiced with the team despite awaiting eligibility.^[30][31] On August 31, Gayle filed a lawsuit in the state of New York. He stated he was enrolled at the University of Michigan for the fall of 2026, had been granted a roster spot by Michigan and had been practicing with the team. As a result, he was granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA and eligibility.^[32][33]

Recruiting class

On July 8, 2025, Michigan landed its first class of 2026 recruit, center Marcus Engelhardt Møller. He is a Danish native who played basketball in Spain in Liga U for Unicaja Málaga U22 and in the Tercera FEB for Unicaja-Andalucía Málaga.^[48] Møller also represented the Danish senior national team in qualifiers for both the EuroBasket 2025 and 2027 FIBA World Cup, where he averaged 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in eight contests.^[49] On September 16, Michigan received their second commitment from four-star forward/center, Quinn Costello.^[50] On September 24, the Wolverines received their third commitment from three-star guard/forward, Malachi Brown.^[51] On October 1, the Wolverines received their fourth commitment from four-star shooting guard, Joseph Hartman.^[52] All four players officially signed their national letter of intent during the early signing period in November 2025.^[53] On February 3, Costello was named a 2026 McDonald's All-American.^[54]

On February 10, Michigan received their fifth commitment from four-star forward, Lincoln Cosby. He reclassified as a five-star recruit from the class of 2027, namely so he could rehab his ACL at the University of Michigan, which he had surgery on before his commitment.^[55] Before enrolling, it was announced he would redshirt this season.^[56] On April 4, the Wolverines received their sixth commitment from unanimous five-star guard, Brandon McCoy Jr. He announced his commitment at halftime during the Final Four game between Michigan and Arizona. At the time of his commitment he was a top-20 player by all three recruiting services.^[57] He joined Costello as a McDonald's All-American and previously won three gold medals representing the United States at the 2023 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship, 2024 FIBA Under-17 World Cup and 2025 FIBA Under-19 World Cup. He was teammates with Morez Johnson Jr. in 2025.^[58] McCoy finished as the No. 3 overall ranked player in the nation by rivals and No. 10 by 247Sports, making him the highest ranked high school recruit to ever sign with the program by both outlets (since 21st century).^[59][60] Michigan had the No. 2 ranked incoming recruiting class in the nation according to 247Sports (high school and transfer recruits combined).^[61][62][7]

2026 recruiting class

More information Name, Hometown ...

College recruiting

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Brandon McCoy Jr. PG/SG	Oakland, California	Sierra Canyon School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 4, 2026
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (91)
Quinn Costello PF/C	Medford, Massachusetts	The Newman School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sep 16, 2025
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (89)
Lincoln Cosby SF/PF	Cincinnati, Ohio	Montverde Academy	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Feb 10, 2026
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (87)
Joseph Hartman SG	Richmond, Virginia	The Rock School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Oct 1, 2025
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (82)
Malachi Brown SG/SF	Knoxville, Tennessee	Knoxville Catholic	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 24, 2025
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (79)
Marcus Møller C	Espergærde, Denmark	Unicaja Málaga U22	7 ft 3 in (2.21 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Jul 8, 2025
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:    247Sports: 4    On3: 6    ESPN: 4
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2026 Michigan Wolverines Recruiting Class". ESPN. "2026 Team Ranking". Rivals. "2026 Michigan Wolverines". 247Sports. "2026 Michigan Wolverines". On3.

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