MMBB: Who returns next year?

Have to hit the portal and find a couple of shooters. Going to need next years freshman to be able to contribute as well. 

By *Howard I assume you mean Houstan. Although either Howard (or their dad at 48) would be an improvement.  

Every single player that can return should be back. Houstan and Diabate aren’t ready. Dickinson will have a hard time finding a roster in todays NBA. 

I think Jones, Johns and Hunter are all gone that could come back. I see Diabate and Houstan coming back. I think our starting lineup will be Diabate, T Will, Houstan, Kobe and Frankie. Barnes, Tschetter, Reed, Jett and a transfer pg will provide minutes. Dug, Jace and Glenn get mop up minutes. 

Moussa needs to put on some mass and get that Crisco off of his hands. Houston needs to develop a LOT. Johns needs a firm handshake and shown the door. Time to hit the portal and find some long armed shooters. 

I’ll take the less traveled path for the starters by late season: Reed, Moussa, Jett, Jones and Houstan. T Will, Bufkin and Barnes are key contributors. (Dickinson and Jones move on.)

C: Transfer #1

PF: Williams

SF: Houston

SG: Bufkin or Je. Howard

PG: Transfer #2

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C: Reed

F: Barnes

SG: Je. Howard or Bufkin

G: Collins

PG: McDaniel

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PF: Glenn

PF: Tschetter

SF: Ja. Howard

SG: Walk-on

PG: Walk-on

...this would by 13 scholarship players and 2 walk-ons.

Reed is no where close to ready to start. He's not nearly as polished as Hunter was and Hunter wasn't polished other than his left hand. Don't forget, Hunter was *like* 21 when he arrived at Michigan and had Austin Davis to mentor him...he also DID NOT START at the beginning of the season. (Thanks to the poster below who caught this poor attempt at exaggeration).

Transfer #2 could be a backup PF if you think Collins, Bufkin or McDaniel can start at PG.

***And if you're going to get a backup PF...you may as well just keep Johns for another year.***

Hopefully Houstan transfers or goes pro.  I don't think he could improve enough to be a decent contributor next year.   I don't understand how he was even a D1 recruit let alone a 5*.   

We have 12 scholarship players on the team…Eli can’t return so that leaves 11. 2 of Jones, Johns, Nunez, Dickinson, Diabate or Houstan have to depart in order to make room for the 4 freshmen. Add to that they’re talking to people in the portal.

I don’t know. Still trying to figure out what the fuck I just watched.  

I think Dickinson is gone (even though he probably should come back for the NIL money) but Diabate may give it one more go.  They'll likely get 2-3 transfers depending on if Jones comes back.  

I think a lot of guys who saw limited time this year will make leaps next year - you can see how guys like Collins, Bufkin, Williams, and Houstan could develop with a year and be significantly better next year.

I also think the B1G is going to be down next year - Illinois loses Kofi, Iowa loses (I assume) at least one Murray brother plus a ton of experience, Wisconsin should be okay but Davis will be gone and they probably won't be as lucky next year as they were this season in terms of close games, MSU is just going to be okay, Rutgers will lose Baker and Harper Jr., OSU likely loses Liddell, etc.  It's not going to crater but it feels more winnable next year even if UM as a team gets "worse".

I think HD will leave and Moussa is 50/50... Whether either should leave is another question. I think HD could find a role in the NBA, but it would be more of a 8th man...his defense is not good enough for the NBA...he struggles with quicker college players. The NBA is literally another level of athleticism

Diabate certainly has the measurements, but he is still really raw and inconsistent...But he has a winning lottery ticket in his pocket, so I am sure there is temptation to go

Houstan needs a lot of work - I'd be very surprised if he left as I would be surprised if he got drafted...I'm sure he's a knock down shooter in an empty gym - big difference when the lights are shining and a guy is forcing you off your mark...

I think BJJ is a great kid, but Michigan is not obligated to give out a scholarship after 4 years...if he wants to come back as a walkon, i'd welcome him back.

Regardless of who stays or goes or arrives, this team needs to find/develop their overall shooting and ball handling.  The poor passing and ice cold shooting, even from around the rim, was in such stark contrast to Nova's, and not something we're accustomed to seeing at Michigan. As others have said, Diabate needs to add upper body strength to cure his ball handling. Still, proud of this team. They clearly had limitations, but they hustled and did their best. Go Blue!

We lose:

Brooks (graduation)

Jones (pro)

Dickinson (pro)

Diabate (pro)

Johns (pro*) *in something other than sports.

Add: at least 2 transfers. A wing and a big

For the opening game in November I expect a starting lineup of:

PG: Collins

SG: Bufkin 

SF: Houstan

PF: Williams

C: Transfer

Bench contributors being Jett, Reed, Barnes, Dug, and a transfer wing

High ceiling if the sophomores leap. Very low floor if they don’t 

Got lots of hope for Terrence Williams. Would love to see him stay all four and become a Jermaine Samuels from Villanova type.

We need athletic bigs that can defend the pick and roll . Got us all year 

I'm still bracing for the possibility of losing Diabate and to a lesser extent Houstan. Diabate has NBA talent. Less sure on Houstan but I could see him conceivably leaving for a shot at a late second round slot and likely going undrafted- we've seen kids make worse decisions. But I'm a pessimist to avoid disappointment so we'll see. 

Is Diabete the new Jake Ruddock and Aiden Hutchison? Can we please spell our players' names correctly? You get a pass until they're on campus. But after a full season? Cmon lol. 

1- Collins / McDaniel 32/8

2- Bufkin / Howard 20/20

3- TWill / Bufkin 30/10

4- Houstan / Diabate 32/8

5- Diabate / Reed 25/15

A few things stand out compared to this season, one, no freshman starter, two more athleticism, three more shooting. I personally like the makeup of this roster better, and I'm excited for the future. Go BLUE

Pretty sure Williams was disappointed with his minutes LAST year. Something to keep an eye on.

I hope many of these "fans" fail to return.

I hate this exercise because in making it, we have to point to our players’ flaws and it always comes off as “he sucks; I hope he stays.”

And with the transfer portal, who really knows.

So I will just look at our worst-case scenario where our seniors who still have COVID eligibility all leave (Jones, Nunez, Johns, I believe), and our 3 most talked about early entrants all leave (Hunter, Moussa, Houstan), then our roster makeup looks shaky before hitting the portal:

PG: Frankie, Dug

SG: Bufkin

Wings: Jett, Jace, Barnes, Tschetter, Glenn

PF: Terrence

C: Reed

Depth in the front court and the back court would be non-existent, and that’s assuming Bufkin doesn’t transfer.

There are so many variables that it is impossible to construct a reasoned conversation in this regard. 

Next year's team, as things stand, will be younger than this year's-even much younger. My guess on the starting five at the beginning of next year: Diabate at 5, TWill at 4 Houstan at 3, Bufkin at 2 and Collins at 1. Reed and Howard should get a little run as freshmen. A sophomore or two who we have not seen much of will have some real opportunity. There will likely be at least one portal addition who will alter the starting five-I prefer it not to be a PG...make this Frankie's team. 

There are so many questions and unknowns regarding both the roster composition and player improvement and growth. Who is going to advance from that good freshman class? Who is going to contribute from the incoming class? Who is leaving via going pro or the portal? Who is added via the portal? I do believe Mr. Collins is going to be a significant contributor-indications are that he is going to a dynamic player-in ways we have not had for some time-maybe ever...and I hope he is given full opportunity.

As many unknowns as there are in my guesses here my best guess is that next year's team will actually be better than this year's-both offensively and defensively-perhaps even significantly better. There will be much better balance and connectedness to their play.  I hope/anticipate that TWill becomes a Livers-like leader of this team...this could be a hugely impactfully part of improved play...the young man has "IT"-catalyze it and use it. Out on the court, with the bright lights on, this year's team was rudderless. There is good reason for hoping that next year's team plays with more focus and resolve. 

All of these hot takes on who is good and who isn't forgets to say anything about defense, or projected development. Very few of you actually talk about what skills the guys show and how that projects with work. You treat these freshmen and sophomore as if they are finished products and won't improve.

Eli Brooks was a hot mess his freshmen year (24.4% 3pt) and sophomore (29%). I hated on him a lot. His 3pt shooting was colder than Houstan's most games, and I've pointed that out in past years. 

They just lost a game they shouldn't have lost in the Sweet 16 to a team that had upperclass leaders. You're talking about a starting 5 that includes three underclassmen (two rookies). 

Frankie Collins, Houstan, Diabate, and Dickinson all improved tremendously from November to March--and they are likely to return. Houstan was a lockdown defender in the tourney--and there's a reason that good shooting teams went cold against us. 

Focus on the negative and what players didn't do to make you happy and it looks like there is nothing they offer in terms of their future success.

Houstan didn't live up to his blue chip status in terms of what Michigan fans dreamed he would be as Top 5 guy--but more than half of Kentucky's 5 stars over the last decade have fallen into that same category in year 1. Statistically, not all blue chips immediately dominate. I'd trust coaching--Howard's going to build up Caleb's confidence and his demeanor. He averaged 10 pts and shot 35.5% from 3pt line in year 1. If he builds consistency he will be up to 14-15 and 40% from 3% next year. 

Scottie Barnes. He looked raw and awkward, NBA scouts thought he could be a superstar and it looks like he could be. I think scouts see Caleb in a similar way. 

I have a question. If everyone returned next year, how much better would this team be? 

Hunter is gone, he'll be 22 this Fall.

Jones is gone, he'll be 24.

Diabate is 50-50, he will get drafted just on potential.

Houstan is back obviously.

Johns is probably done.