Michigan basketball hosting elite portal center for Monday visit

The Michigan Wolverines will host elite transfer portal center Moustapha Thiam out of Cincinnati for a Monday visit, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

On3’s Industry Transfer Portal Rankings have Thiam (7-2, 250) as the No. 13 overall player in the class and No. 3 center.

Thiam started 31 games this season for the Bearcats, ranking second on the team with 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, which earned him All-Big 12 honorable mention honors. He is also a terrific rim protector, recording 50 blocks this season, along with 9 double-doubles, 21 double-figure scoring outings and 7 double-digit rebounding games.

Thiam was 145-of-253 (57.3%) from 2-point range this year and made 15 threes on the year on 52 attempts (28.8%).

Thiam put up a career-high 28 points at Kansas this season, which is a major reason why the Jayhawks are one of the schools interested. According to On3’s Kansas site, Bill Self and company are trying to get him in for a visit next week, too. Other schools in the mix include Michigan State, UConn, St. John’s and others.

Michigan also got a glimpse at Thiam this season in a 100-98 exhibition loss at Crisler Center, albeit without Aday Mara and Morez Johnson playing in the game. Thiam put up 15 points and 2 rebounds in the outing.

Interest in Thiam could indicate that Michigan expects Mara to declare for the NBA Draft and fully immerse himself in the process. Recent mocks have him as a lottery selection coming off an impressive postseason. Johnson is also in that conversation, but neither has made a decision. Head coach Dusty May said he will let them make those on their own without influencing them.

“They’re still gathering information and trying to make their decisions,” May said on the ‘Inside College Basketball’ podcast this week. “We anticipate that both of them are going to have a great option to be first-round draft picks, so they’re just weighing the pros and cons of both and what they want to do as people.”

The Wolverines have already addressed their front court this portal cycle with JP Estrella, formerly of Tennessee. Michigan has also been linked to Wake Forest guard Juke Harris, the No. 4 overall player in the portal, who is also considering North Carolina and Tennessee.