Big Ten Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

Earlier this month, it looked like Michigan was re-loading with enough talent to be one of the legit Big Ten contenders in 2020-21. Instead, five-star guard Josh Christopher picked Arizona State over the Wolverines and five-star forward Isaiah Todd decommitted to join the new NBA G League pathway.

Those expected recruits were expected to ease the losses of Zavier Simpson, Isaiah Livers, and Jon Teske, Michigan’s three most important players from Juwan Howard’s first team in Ann Arbor. Losing Todd and not landing Christopher has certainly dampened expectations – especially with David DeJulius transferring as well – but that doesn’t mean Michigan won’t have talent.

Eli Brooks returns to lead the backcourt and will have a featured role as a senior after showing he is capable of leading the Wolverines offensively, albeit on a very inconsistent basis last season. Franz Wagner also returns to add another shooting and scoring threat. Role players like Brandon Johns and Austin Davis are back in the frontcourt as well.

Yet, despite those recruiting losses, Michigan is still bringing in the top class in the Big Ten. Four-star center Hunter Dickinson will have a huge role right away, and fellow top 100 prospects Zeb Jackson and Terrance Williams figure to add depth. Columbia grad transfer Mike Smith, who averaged 22.8 points and 4.5 assists per game for the Lions last season, should take over as the starting point guard as well.

There are a lot of new pieces for the Wolverines and there isn’t an obvious go-to player among them. As mentioned, Brooks wasn’t consistent last year and it remains to be seen how dominant Dickinson can be during his freshman campaign. But they do have talent, and Howard has already proven to be an excellent defensive coach.