Five takeaways from Michigan Media Day 2026-27

Michigan opened the Crisler Center to the media on Thursday to preview the upcoming season. The Wolverines will play their toughest preseason exhibition on Sunday against Houston in Grand Rapids, then tip off the season on November 2nd.

For a program defending the national championship, Michigan is still trying to find its identity this season. The Wolverines have key pieces back from that team, and they learned Thursday that another, Roddy Gayle Jr., will suit up this weekend. But that team’s stars (and coach) were on television this week, starting their professional careers in the NBA.

This isn’t that team, and it’s October, so everyone is still trying to figure out exactly what this team is. Michigan head coach Mike Boynton Jr.’s message is that the team is focused on putting last year behind it and “trying to become the best version of ourselves.”

1. Defense is the focus

Michigan feels further ahead on offense than defense right now. The Wolverines scored at will against Oregon State their last time out, but also gave up 93 points.

“We definitely got to get a lot better. We felt like in all the scrimmages we played, our offense wasn’t really a problem. It was our defense,” Elliot Cadeau said on Thursday. “So that’s something we’re working on day by day in practice.

“We feel like just being more physical. Teams shoot really high percentages on us, like at the rim. So that’s something that we’re trying to work on every day, just walling up, just being more physical with other teams.”