What to watch for on Michigan’s European trip

Michigan will head abroad this week for a ten-day international trip and play Mike Boynton Jr.’s first three (exhibition) games in charge.

The Wolverines arrive in Lithuania on August 20th and will return home on August 29th. They’ll spend five days in Lithuania and four days in Croatia. It’s the program’s first international trip since 2022 and comes at a perfect time with a new head coach, nine newcomers, and only two returning rotation players from last year’s team.

Here’s what to watch for during Michigan’s trip overseas, and what we might learn about the 2026-27 Wolverines.

Setting the stage

Michigan will play three games over its ten-day trip. The first two are in Lithuania against the country’s national team (Aug 23rd) and reserve team (Aug 24th), with the final game to be played in Dubrovnik against Mega Superbet.

When you hear Lithuania, you think about Jonas Valanciunas, Domantas Sabonis, Matas Buzelis, Kasparas Jakucionis, Rokas Jokubaitis, and Ignas Brazdeikis. Instead, many of Lithuania’s top NBA and EuroLeague talents won’t be with the national team for this FIBA window.

While not the best squad Lithuania can bring, it’s still a senior national team group preparing to play World Cup qualifiers in this window. Many of these international trips feature thrown-together squads of local talent; this isn’t that.

Former Arizona star Azuolas Tubelis and Saint Mary’s guard Augustas Marciulionis are two headliners, while veterans like Donatas Motiejunas and Gytis Radzevicius will also play a part.

This will be a real test for the new-look Wolverines, and it is also being treated as more of a real game than these international trips generally are. Both games in Lithuania are ticketed events being marketed to local fans.