Michigan basketball is the early favorite heading into a new season of Big Ten basketball that features quite a talented slate of squads along with some talented recruiters in the landscape.
Head coach Juwan Howard is no stranger to the spotlight and neither should his team as Howard enters his third with a 42-17 overall record, a 24-13 record in conference play, won the 2020-21 Big Ten regular-season crown, and earned a No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines made it down to last year’s Elite Eight before falling by two to the UCLA Bruins in a defensive battle. Now, they return in 2021-22 led by Hunter Dickinson in the frontcourt and Eli Brooks in the backcourt, but they’ll have some holes to fill in other places.
DeVante Jones (Coastal Carolina) will look to make an impact right away in that regard after winning last year’s Sun Belt Player of the Year award. He posted 19,3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, and 2.8 spg in 2020-21 for the Chanticleers. He’s a 6-foot-1 guard that likes to get rebounds out the net on the defensive end and turn it into easy offense that should push the pace for Michigan basketball this year.
The trio of Brooks, Dickinson, and Jones will lead the primary attack while Brandon Johns Jr. (Senior), Caleb Houstan (Freshman), and Moussa Diabate (Freshman) should carve out roles for themselves as well. Houstan and Diabate are members of the Wolverines’ 2021 recruiting class.
Houstan is a 6-foot-8 wing prospect out of Montverde that should turn heads while Diabate will look to shore up the frontcourt with his 6-foot-11 size and 7-foot-4 wingspan on the interior.
Coach Howard should have his Wolverines geared up once again to make a run at the Big Ten basketball crown this season.