Why Michigan kept this transfer portal recruitment on the down low

Michigan Wolverines basketball started three players listed at 6-foot-9 or taller last season in Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara, which made up a front line that was extremely tough for opponents to deal with. The big man market boomed in the transfer portal this offseason, in part a result of Michigan’s success by starting three players that logged time at center on their previous teams the prior season.

“Let’s just put it this way: This would be a great time to be the financial advisor of a quality post player, or the agent,” head coach Dusty May told Fox Sports. “There have been times this spring, before we were able to finish our class, where we thought that the market was so inflated.

“We considered kind of leaving and going a little bit smaller again. Maybe even try to sign a bunch of [wings] with a point guard and spread you out, just because we felt the bigs were so overvalued.”

Instead, Michigan found the right fits for them, though the three-player transfer portal haul likely costed a pretty penny. The Wolverines added three big men — J.P. Estrella (Tennessee), Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati) and Jalen Reed (LSU). Estrella pledged shortly after Michigan won the national championship, Thiam was a high-profile recruit who the college basketball world knew was visiting U-M … but Reed’s recruitment was under the radar until he committed. That, assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen said, was by design.

“It was a good thing we kept it under wraps,” Miskdeen said on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast. “Bigs are a hot commodity. Kudos to us, I guess, and kudos to Florida, too, and Arizona. It’s been a bunch of really good teams with bigs, so now everyone is looking for bigs. We didn’t really want to get that out there and have other people start recruiting him really hard, because maybe people had forgotten about him.”

Miskdeen, who’s entering his third year at Michigan, didn’t forget, and the Wolverines’ staff was impressed by Reed during an initial Zoom call. He committed to Michigan without a visit, and only recently took a trip to Ann Arbor.

Miskdeen had a prior relationship with Reed, dating back to the coach’s time at Florida in 2021-22. Reed, a 6-foot-9 big man, was committed to the Gators, but head coach Mike White, Miskdeen and the staff departed for Georgia, so he ended up opening up his recruitment and landing at LSU.

“I’ve known him for so long. I was looking back at some old text messages,” Miskdeen said. “We recruited him at Florida, and we got a commitment, and then we ended up leaving and he went to LSU.

“But, first and foremost, his family is very incredible. His mother, Falena, his grandfather, Dr. Boykins, who went to UD, and his aunt actually went to Michigan. 

“He’s an incredible person. He’s going to be beloved. It’ll be in the same manner as Yax. His personality is very lovable. He’s a big teddy bear.”

Reed suffered a season-ending Achilles injury last November but is working to get healthy.

“We just thought if he can get healthy, he can be really good for us,” the Michigan coach said. “He’s a big dude who’s very skilled. When healthy, he can be a very, very special player.”

One of multiple Michigan players that are rehabbing from serious injuries, Reed will have world class resources to help him back to full health.

“Most of that will be coming from the doctors, and we have great doctors,” Miskdeen noted. “And Chris Williams is one of the best trainers in the country. So, we have the right people around him that will help him mentally and physically. Coach May gives everybody confidence when they come here. He’ll be fine with our doctors and our trainers, but mostly it’ll come from them. He’ll have to figure out how to get through his past injuries on the court, but that’ll come from Chris and the doctors.”

Comparing and contrasting last season’s front line with Michigan’s new frontcourt

Lendeborg is out of eligibility, while Mara and Johnson are going through the NBA Draft process and expected to head to the professional level. All three are projected first-round selections.

Thiam is 7-foot-2 and can add similar elements to what Mara brought last season, while Estrella will likely start at the power forward spot at 6-foot-11, 240 pounds. However, the Wolverines will have a different flair this coming season.

“It’ll be much different,” Miskdeen pointed out. “Thiam is definitely a good shot-blocker. He can score with his back to the basket.

“The good thing about those three, they all are lob threats for [senior guard] Elliot Cadeau. “We always try to build a team with what we have, and Elliot was even pressing us, ‘Ah, I got to get some guys that can catch some lobs.’ So, he was a part of a lot of this when we asked about what we need to help for next year. Those three are very good lob threats.

“The difference between those three as opposed to Aday and Morez, they come in with a good shooting percentage. Those are guys that can step behind the three[-point line] and shoot the ball, so that’ll bring a different dynamic.

“It’ll definitely be different, but it was different our first year, as well.”

Under May, Michigan (and Florida Atlantic beforehand) has won at a high level with different styles of play / body types at different positions. With how the roster is shaping up, the Wolverines are set to do so again in 2026-27.