How Michigan’s transfer class fits Dusty May’s blueprint

The talent in Michigan’s four-man transfer portal class is undeniable.

Yaxel Lendeborg could have been picked in the first round of the NBA Draft. Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara were already impactful Big Ten players, and Elliot Cadeau is a former five-star and All-American who started for two years at North Carolina.

According to most outlets, the Wolverines have one of the two or three most impressive transfer portal hauls in the sport. Those same outlets are quick to question the fit of Michigan’s portal class, whether due to landing three bigs who ‘can’t play together’ or adding a point guard with a questionable 3-point shot.

Those assessments aren’t necessarily wrong in each specific case, but they overlook a critical part of fit: all four incoming transfers fit neatly into the aspects of the game that Dusty May has emphasized since arriving at Michigan — concepts that we’ve been discussing since our Dusty 101 series last offseason.

Paint touches

Without widely available player tracking data, there’s no perfect stat to measure paint touches in college basketball. One functional stand-in is an aggregation of Synergy’s “drive” stats, which include any drive (right or left) off of a ball screen, isolation, or spot-up.

When you aggregate all of the drives in Synergy’s database, Michigan ranked 16th of 18 Big Ten teams in drives per game at 10.6 per game, ahead of only Indiana and UCLA.

Danny Wolf led Michigan with 71 drives in 37 games, followed by Tre Donaldson (55) and Roddy Gayle (52). Nimari Burnett (44) and Rubin Jones (19) were both limited drivers in their perimeter roles, despite playing in the backcourt.

The additions of Elliot Cadeau (99 drives in 37 games) and Yaxel Lendeborg (107 drives in 36 games) should change that dynamic. Both averaged over three drives per 40 minutes, and their additions, along with a larger role for LJ Cason (4.5 drives per 40 minutes) should help Michigan get more perimeter penetration.