Meet The New Faces On The Michigan Men’s Basketball Team

After a successful first year under head coach Dusty May in which the Michigan men’s basketball team reached the Sweet 16, the Wolverines have reloaded their roster with fresh faces and new talent.

The duo of 7-footers that held down Michigan’s front court last season — forward Danny Wolf and center Vlad Goldin — both left for the NBA, point guard Tre Donaldson transferred to Miami, guard Rubin Jones graduated. With four starters leaving the program, May and his staff had a busy offseason of retooling the roster.

Here are the four freshmen and four transfers that May brought in for the 2025-26 season…

The crown jewel of this recruiting class, freshman guard Trey McKenney is in the best position of all the freshmen to earn playing time right out of the gates. Ranked 18th in the nation, the five-star guard brings the whole package.

McKenney likes to work downhill, utilizing his 6-foot-4 frame to create looks in the midrange. He’s not a sharpshooter by trade, but has proven effective from 3-point range in the preps circuit.

Even with a full backcourt, McKenney will most likely get ample chances to carve out a role for himself this season.

Listed as both a guard and a forward, freshman Winters Grady’s frame suggests he’s likely to slot him into a wing role in college. At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, Grady should have a big enough build to battle in the Big Ten, and his ability to do that will largely determine his role on the team.

The four-star, top 100 prospect's stroke from deep is pure, and shooting is something that this roster lacks on the whole. Depending on his readiness to adapt to the physicality of college basketball, he could find a role for himself at the back end of the rotation.

An unranked prospect out of Germany, freshman center Malick Kordel stands at an imposing 7-foot-2 and weighs 275 pounds. He’s quite athletic for his size and actually grew up playing handball, not basketball.

Kordel only began playing organized basketball four years ago and is understandably quite raw. He has nice touch and physicality around the rim and is a great rebounder, but his offensive game is currently limited to the paint. This season will most likely be a development year for Kordel.

Ranked as just a three-star prospect, Ricky Liburd will most likely be another project for Michigan. With the Wolverines as deep as they are at guard, it’s hard to see Liburd being a regular in the rotation, but his ability to shoot from three is plenty valuable at any rate.

Ranked as the No. 1 player in the 2025 transfer portal, Michigan won a big battle by landing graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg. Last season at UAB, he averaged 15.8 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, all while being a major paint deterrent on defense averaging 1.9 blocks per game.

Lendeborg could slot into the role Danny Wolf played last season, where Lendeborg plays as a pseudo guard. He has the ability to handle the ball and facilitate like a guard, all while occupying the 6-foot-9, 240-pound body of a forward. Wherever he fits in, he will likely be the focal point of the Wolverines’ offensive attack.

Junior guard Elliot Cadeau will be taking over the starting point guard duties for the Wolverines. Out of high school, Cadeau was the 12th-ranked prospect in his class and committed to North Carolina. Last season with the Tar Heels, he averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 points per game as their lead guard.

Cadeau is a pass-first point guard that elevates his teammates’ play. He can be turnover prone at times, but that’s the price that sometimes has to be paid with elite passers. He has also had inconsistencies shooting the ball, but showed marked improvement from his freshman to his sophomore season.

Sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. is a quintessential Big Ten big man. While perhaps a tad undersized, he is still an elite rebounder and defender at 6-foot-9. He averaged seven points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 17.7 minutes per game last season with Illinois.

Michigan is deep at the forward position as well, but Johnson should still play a large role for the Wolverines, especially considering Lendeborg’s positional versatility.

Joining Johnson as another intra-conference transfer, junior center Aday Mara transferred to Michigan from UCLA. Mara stands at a towering 7-foot-3 and is quite lanky, and even at his size, he exhibits nice footwork and touch on the post. Last season with the Bruins, the Spain native averaged 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 13 minutes per game.

Only time will tell how May will configure his rotation of big men, regardless, Mara will certainly be a big part of that cast.