Michigan Basketball: Dusty May talks challenges of transfer portal opening during a NCAA Tournament run
Until it gets corrected, the transfer portal window opens up at unopportune times for teams that are trying to win a national championship. The Michigan men’s basketball team is facing that right now, along with 15 other teams. With the Sweet 16 starting on Thursday, teams have to scout their opponents, attempt to retain their current roster from entering the transfer portal, and keep an eye on what players enter the portal to fill needs for next year’s team.
The Wolverines already had freshman guard Justin Pippen enter the portal on Monday when the spring window opened. Michigan is also looking at several players who entered and we’ve seen the Wolverines’ name associated with players who have opted into the portal.
Head coach Dusty May spoke on ‘Inside Michigan Basketball’ about splitting time between scouting Auburn and the portal. Plus, expecting Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin to be playing in the NBA next season.
“Well, we have two staffers that are working almost exclusively on Auburn, and then we’ll have a couple more that are splitting time between the next opponents and fielding calls and putting out feelers because you don’t know what your roster is going to look like until the season is over,” May said. “And so we have returners, we have a couple of guys signed, but there are obviously going to be a few holes that need to be filled when you lose Vlad Goldin and we anticipate Danny Wolf being an NBA player next year. I would think both of those guys are going to be in the NBA next year, then you’ve got to fill in some spots up front.
“I think everyone’s aware of that. So we have to be on our toes, fielding calls, taking in information and being ready to pounce. And hopefully that’s not for a couple of weeks on Monday, but I would anticipate on that Tuesday morning I’ll be on a plane to go see some guys and help prepare ourselves to be playing next year.”
Teams that aren’t currently playing in the NCAA Tournament has all of their options on the table. But Michigan and other schools that are fighting for a national title and as May pointed out — it handicaps them. But he clearly would much rather be in the position he’s in now compared to filling the portal.
“Yeah, it’s certainly a handicap for the teams that are winning. It’s the same way in football, the teams that play. Because if you start adding players to your roster now, what does that do to the young guys who are working hard?”
“So it’s tough, but once again, if you could have a trade-off and there’s always a trade-off, I would much rather be playing right now than portal recruiting.”
