NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
6. Michigan Wolverines
The Wolverines lost a ton of talent from the offseason but brought back All-American big man Hunter Dickinson and the No. 1 overall recruiting class, as well as an impact transfer in Sun Belt Player of the Year Devante Jones. This group was supposed to have the depth needed to be the best in the Big Ten this season.
However, none of that has worked out for the team, currently with a 6-4 record and just a win over San Diego State to show for it. Dickinson statically is playing well (15.0 ppg and 9.6 rpg), while Eli Brooks (13.7 ppg) has been the best perimeter player on the team. Yet the supporting cast has struggled much more than expected, mainly the newcomers.
Starting point guard Jones averaging just 6.8 ppg, nearly a 14 ppg drop compared to last season. Five-star freshman Caleb Houstan has had his ups and downs, while Moussa Diabate has arguably played the best among the newcomers but doesn’t fit well with Dickinson when on the court together. Role players such as Brandon Johns Jr., Terrence Williams, and Frankie Collins haven’t done much yet either.
This is a team that recently lost to Minnesota, who was projected to finish around the very bottom in the Big Ten, at home. And while this team is definitely capable of getting enough wins to make the NCAA Tournament, they’re a long way away from getting back to top 10 quality. Unless the freshmen start to get it going, there’s not much else to buy from this team.