Men’s College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Michigan Wolverines

The Big 10 will be going through some changes in men’s college basketball up top this season, as household names like Ayo Dosunmu and Luka Garza are off to the NBA. There is still plenty of star power though, as Juwan Howard has brought in an elite recruiting class at Michigan, our guy Trevion Williams is back for his swan song season at Purdue. and even the bottom half of the conference has useful fantasy options sprinkled throughout.

Big 10 slates are a grind, so getting a head start on info about this conference will serve you well in putting you above the rest of the field. Join me on this journey as we preview the Big 10 teams from a DFS perspective.

In this one, Michigan.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Michigan Wolverines 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 23-5 (14-3 Big 10), first in Big 10
Postseason: Lost in NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

Key Departures | Michigan Wolverines

• Franz Wagner (NBA draftee)
• Isaiah Livers (NBA draftee)
• Chaundee Brown (playing professionally)
• Austin Davis (playing overseas)
• Mike Smith (playing professionally)

Key Additions | Michigan Wolverines

• DeVante Jones (transferred from Coastal Carolina)
• Moussa Diabaté (top 20 recruit)
• Caleb Houstan (top 10 recruit)
• Kobe Bufkin (top 50 recruit)
• Frankie Collins (top 50 recruit)
• Isaiah Barnes (4 star recruit)

Returners | Michigan Wolverines

• Hunter Dickinson (14.1 PPG/7.4 RPG/1.4 BPG)
• Eli Brooks (9.5 PPG/3.1 RPG/3.1 APG/1.1 SPG)
• Brandon Johns (4.9 PPG/2.3 RPG)
• Terrance Williams (1.9 PPG/2.2 RPG)

Michigan Wolverines Outlook for 2021-2022

Juwan Howard is building something special at Michigan already. Howard and his staff have been absolutely destroying the recruiting trail bringing in big names for multiple classes now. They’re losing a big chunk of their production from last year with Wagner, Livers, Brown and Smith gone, but we likely won’t see a drop off of any kind which is amazing.

Following the success Michigan had in the transfer portal last year with Columbia’s Mike Smith, Howard decided to replicate that process and bring in Coastal Carolina’s DeVante Jones. I think I speak for everyone when I say Smith exceeded all expectations running the point for a Big 10 team coming from an Ivy league school. To me, Jones is a better player than Smith, so the likelihood he becomes a strong player for the Wolverines is actually quite high. He is the reigning Sun Belt POY and he averaged a mouth-watering 19.3 PPG/7.2 RPG/2.9 APG/2.8 SPG. He is a fantastic on-ball defender who can rebound and score at a high level. People might look at those stats and think, “how is he going to translate as a point guard in this conference?” It’s important to realize Jones was forced into a big scorer role at Coastal because the team didn’t have many playmakers during his tenure with them. Jones describes himself as a pass first point guard and should excel under the Michigan coaching staff. This could end up looking like a genius addition by Juwan Howard.

Seven-footer Hunter Dickinson is back for his sophomore season, and the reigning Big 10 Freshman of the Year could be looking at a special year ahead. Make no mistake about it, the team will run through Dickinson this year despite all of the splashy recruiting additions the team has added. He is someone capable of winning the conference POY award, and it won’t shock me to see him average a double-double.

Eli Brooks enters his super senior year as a pesky defender and a knock-down shooter who is going to give opposing guards fits all year. We will have to pay attention to who he guards each game because he is good enough to make us fade the opposing player. I’m a big Brandon Johns guy and I know people gave me a hard time for talking him up at various times throughout the year. I had the last laugh though, as he played 20-plus minutes in each of Michigan’s last five games (granted, Isaiah Livers was injured). He was productive during that stretch, averaging 10.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 1 SPG. Even more impressive is that most of those games were during the NCAA tournament so he had to grow up quickly and his production reflected that. I see him thriving next to Hunter Dickinson this season, and while he won’t be some mega star on this squad, he will log productive minutes in a possible starter role.

Caleb Houstan reclassified from the 2022 class and is an excellent shooter. He has the best chance of any of the freshmen to start right away. Moussa Diabaté has a 7-foot-3 wingspan and will be a defensive juggernaut in good time. He will get minutes of the bench behind Dickinson and Johns. Bufkin is a crafty lefty scorer that lacks the athleticism of his fellow recruits but has the skill to make up for it in other ways. Frankie Collins has been pegged as the Wolverines PG of the future and could end up pushing Jones for the starting spot if the Coastal Carolina transfer has trouble adjusting to the pace of Big 10 play.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams, top 100 players and top 25 impact freshmen for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

This roster offers a good blend of veterans and newcomers that should be a viable team to target for DFS purposes. Keep an eye on the point guard situation as DeVante Jones will probably have a tight leash with frosh Frankie Collins breathing down his neck. Hunter Dickinson is going to have a conference POY type of season, and the complementary pieces will be usable fantasy assets at various times depending on price.