The 2024–25 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was the program's 109th season and its 108th consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Wolverines were led by first-year head coach Dusty May, and played their home games at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Previous season The Michigan Wolverines finished the 2023–24 season with an 8–24 record, 3–17 in the conference, finishing last in the Big Ten. As the No. 14 seed in the 2024 Big Ten tournament, they lost to Penn State in the first round.
Offseason On March 15, 2024, Michigan fired head coach Juwan Howard. In the subsequent days, guards George Washington III and Dug McDaniel entered the NCAA transfer portal. They were followed by center Tarris Reed and forward Youssef Khayat on March 19.
On March 23, Michigan hired former Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May to be their next head coach. On April 4, McDaniel announced he would transfer to Kansas State. The same day, May hired former Georgia assistant Akeem Miskdeen and former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton to his coaching staff. Forward Will Tschetter became the first player to announce his return to the team, and forward Terrance Williams II decided to both enter the transfer portal and declare for the 2024 NBA draft. On April 9, Youssef Khayat announced his departure for Bowling Green. On April 11, George Washington III removed his name from the transfer portal, becoming the second player to return to the team.
The same day, May hired former Saint Mary's associate head coach Justin Joyner to the coaching staff. On April 16, May hired two former assistants from Florida Atlantic, Drew Williamson and Kyle Church, to complete his coaching staff. When the NCAA expanded coaching staff limits from 3 to 5 assistants in 2023, it determined that the two additional coaches may engage in coaching activities but may not recruit off campus. On April 17, Tarris Reed announced he would transfer to the back-to-back defending national champion UConn Huskies. On April 18, May formally presented his staff with clarifying titles for Kyle Church (assistant coach/general manager) and Drew Williamson (assistant coach/director of player development), which are different from the other three assistant coaches that have no secondary title, and presenting Brandon Gilbert as special assistant to the head coach.
On April 19, high school prospect Justin Pippen gave a verbal commitment to Michigan, May's first commitment as head coach. Two hours later, Rubin Jones announced he would come to Michigan as a graduate transfer from North Texas where he had been a Conference USA All-Freshman (2021) and All-Defensive (2023) selection. He was May's first transfer portal commitment. On April 20, Michigan secured its second transfer portal commitment under May, as 2024 Ivy League tournament MVP Danny Wolf of Yale committed to the Wolverines. Wolf was ranked as the #28 overall ranked prospect in the transfer portal and was a first-team All-Ivy League selection (2024). The following day, April 21, Tre Donaldson of Auburn committed to the Wolverines, Michigan's third transfer portal acquisition. Donaldson was a four-star transfer prospect, ranked #92 overall. On April 22, Michigan received a transfer commitment from archrival Ohio State guard, Roddy Gayle Jr. He was Michigan's fourth transfer portal addition in as many days. Gayle was rated as a four-star transfer portal prospect, ranked #62 overall (number 6 shooting guard). As a high school recruit he was ranked as the #50 overall prospect (number 3 shooting guard) in the national recruiting class of 2022. That same day, four-star sophomore forward Sam Walters of Alabama became Michigan's fifth transfer portal commitment. He was a top 100 transfer prospect, ranking #98 overall.
On April 23, high school guard L.J. Cason committed to the 2024 recruiting class, giving Dusty May and Michigan seven total commitments in five days. On April 29, Vladislav Goldin, Russian born former Florida Atlantic University starting center, withdrew from the NBA draft process to join his former head coach in Ann Arbor, giving Dusty May eight new off season commitments in the month of April. Goldin was a second-team All-American Athletic Conference (2024) and third-team All-Conference USA (2023) selection, ranked as the #46 overall player in the transfer portal. On the same day, Washington III re-entered the NCAA transfer portal, eventually transferring to Richmond on May 9. On April 30, Nimari Burnett officially announced he would be staying in Ann Arbor, the second tenured Wolverine to return along with Tschetter. Burnett and Goldin were freshman year roommates and teammates as members of Texas Tech's 2020 recruiting class. Hours after Burnett's announcement, Williams II informed the team that he would transfer to USC for his final season.
On May 13, May hired Matt Aldred to work as the men's basketball strength and conditioning coach, both were assistant coaches for the 2017-18 Florida Gators. Before joining Michigan Aldred served on the staff of the Furman Paladins, and last season was the nation's first strength and conditioning coach to achieve the title "assistant head coach/director of basketball performance".
Departures Michigan departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Olivier Nkamhoua 13 F 6'8" 236 GS Helsinki, Finland Graduated Jaelin Llewellyn 3 G 6'2" 190 GS Mono, Canada Graduated Tray Jackson 2 F 6'10" 210 GS Detroit, Michigan Graduated Jackson Selvala 34 F 6'7" 230 GS New Canaan, Connecticut Graduated Terrance Williams II 5 F 6'7" 225 Sr Clinton, Maryland Transferred to USC Cooper Smith 45 G 6'1" 175 Jr Kalamazoo, Michigan Transferred to Eastern Michigan Tarris Reed 32 C 6'10" 260 So Branson, Missouri Transferred to UConn Dug McDaniel 0 G 5'11" 160 So Fairfax, Virginia Transferred to Kansas State Youssef Khayat 24 F 6'9" 195 So Beirut, Lebanon Transferred to Bowling Green George Washington III 40 G 6’2” 170 Fr Dayton, Ohio Transferred to Richmond
Incoming transfers Michigan incoming transfersNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious team Rubin Jones 15 G 6'5" 190 GS Houston, Texas North Texas Danny Wolf 1 F 7’0” 255 Jr. Glencoe, Illinois Yale Tre Donaldson 3 G 6’3” 200 Jr. Tallahassee, Florida Auburn Roddy Gayle Jr. 1 G 6’4” 210 Jr. Niagara Falls, New York Ohio State Sam Walters 24 F 6’10” 198 So. The Villages, Florida Alabama Vladislav Goldin 50 C 7’1” 240 GS Nalchik, Russia Florida Atlantic
Recruiting classes 2024 recruiting class On November 8, 2023, Michigan signed four-star guards Christian Anderson Jr. and Phat Phat Brooks to their National Letter of Intent (NLI). Brooks attended Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School and was awarded the 2024 Mr. Basketball of Michigan. Following the firing of Juwan Howard in 2024, Michigan lost top 50 ranked commit Khani Rooths on March 18, and signee Christian Anderson on March 29. On April 19, Justin Pippen, the son of Scottie Pippen, became the first high school or transfer portal commitment for Dusty May and the highest ranked high school recruit May had ever landed. Pippen was a late riser, entering the rankings in the fall of his senior year at 191 and rising to number 60 by the years end. On April 23, former Florida Atlantic signee and three star guard L.J. Cason followed May to Michigan, pledging his verbal commitment.
2025 recruiting class On October 18, 2024, Michigan landed its first class of 2025 recruit, Winters Grady of Prolific Prep in Napa, California. At the time of his commitment, the four-star Tualatin, Oregon native was ranked No. 83 overall in the 2025 national class by 247Sports. On October 23, Michigan received their second commitment from New Zealand native Oscar Goodman, who was the 2023 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship MVP and a 2024 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup All-Tournament first team selection. He was rated as a top 100, four-star player by On3, but unrated by 247Sports at the time of his commitment. On November 9, the Wolverines earned their third commitment from Flint, Michigan native and five-star guard from St. Mary's Preparatory, Trey McKenney. McKenney won a gold medal and started every game with the United States national team in the 2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup in Argentina. At the time of his commitment, he was ranked as the No. 16 overall player in the country by ESPN and No. 19 in 247Sports’ composite rankings. All three players officially signed their national letter of intent during the early signing period in November 2024.
On January 7, 2025, Goodman enrolled early, joining the 2024–25 Michigan basketball team midseason. After joining the team, 247Sports ranked him as the No. 101 player in the 2024 recruiting class (listed in 2024 by their service as his eligibility started with that class. He remained in the 2025 class in the other major media outlets). As a result of him graduating in November 2024, based on the New Zealand academic calendar, he would remain a member of Michigan's 2025 recruiting class. He used the season to redshirt and was limited to practice only. On January 27, McKenney was named a 2025 McDonald's All-American. He was the first Michigan signee to be selected since Moussa Diabaté, Caleb Houstan and Kobe Bufkin in 2021, and the first to play in the game since Daniel Horton in 2002 (due to the COVID-19 cancellation in 2021).
Roster
Regular season November Cleveland State On November 4, Michigan began the season with a 101–53 victory over Cleveland State. Michigan was led by Danny Wolf with a game-high 19 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals for a double-double. Tre Donaldson had 16 points and seven assists, Will Tschetter scored 15 points, L.J. Cason had a career-high 14 points, Roddy Gayle Jr. had 13 points and Sam Walters added ten points. Michigan finished the first half on a 22–5 run and led 54–26 at halftime. Michigan shot 68.4% from the field, the second-best field goal percentage in program history, just shy of the record of 69.2% set against Alaska-Anchorage on December 30, 1986.
Wake Forest On November 10, Michigan lost to Wake Forest 72–70 in the Deacon-Wolverine Challenge at the Greensboro Complex. The game was a neutral court matchup, despite Greensboro being 30 minutes from the Wake Forest University campus. Michigan was led by Gayle Jr. with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Donaldson added ten points and a then career-high nine rebounds, and Cason added ten points.
TCU On November 15, Michigan defeated TCU 76–64. Michigan was led by Nimari Burnett with 16 points and six rebounds, while Wolf scored 14 points and 14 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. Donaldson also added 14 points and Walters had ten points. Michigan's defense held TCU to 34 percent shooting and 26 percent from behind the three-point line, while shooting 50 percent from the field themselves.
Miami (Ohio) On November 18, Michigan defeated Miami (OH) 94–67. Michigan was led by Burnett with a game-high 18 points, Donaldson scored 16 points, Cason added 11 points and Gayle Jr. had ten points and five assists. With eight points in the game, Vladislav Goldin scored 1,200 career points and won his 100th career game.
Tarleton State On November 21, Michigan defeated Tarleton State 72–49. Gayle Jr. had a game-high 16 points, while Donaldson and Walters each scored 13 points and Goldin added 12 points. With three blocks during the game, Goldin reached 150 for his career. Michigan held Tarleton State to 19 points in the second half, the lowest points allowed in any half this season.
Virginia Tech