Lock Mamba

Dusty May wasted no time this offseason replacing his two All-Big Ten Second Team frontcourt players. Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf are out of eligibility, but their success together last season may have positioned Michigan as a top destination for big men.

The Wolverines made a massive splash in this year’s transfer portal by landing three extremely talented bigs. The No. 1 overall transfer according to 247 Sports, Yaxel Lendenborg, is headed to Ann Arbor—assuming he doesn’t stay in the NBA Draft. They also picked up No. 23-ranked Morez Johnson Jr. and No. 43-ranked Aday Mara, giving Michigan one of the most stacked frontcourts in the country.

Rumor has it that Morez Johnson Jr. received close to $1.8 million, and it’s expected that Lendenborg will demand over $3 million if he returns to college basketball. That’s a hefty price tag when you add those two to Mara and former North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau.

Evan Miya recently tweeted estimates of what schools have spent on incoming transfers, and Michigan tops the list at a projected $8.8 million—over a million more than any other team in college basketball.

So, where did all this Michigan money come from? Dusty May turning down the Indiana job gave him leverage to secure enough NIL funding to build an elite roster. He signed a contract extension to stay in Ann Arbor through 2030, which significantly boosted the program’s NIL budget starting this offseason. Indiana may have been the biggest spender in the Big Ten last year, but it looks like Dusty May won’t let his alma mater outspend him again.