It’s late March, so it’s hard to project what Michigan’s playing rotation is going to be, but I’m going to try my damnedest. This roster could look very different than it did last season, with guys potentially leaving for the draft or transferring away. But other veterans on the team can help remedy and speed up the timeline and help get past the growing pains.When looking at the current roster for the Michigan men’s basketball team, there are so many question marks heading into next season. They don’t know each other’s tendencies, weaknesses, or strengths. Yet, two of the five projected starters have never played a real game with each other. I still expect U-M to be a top-10 team though. The Wolverines have some tough games on the docket right off the bat. I wouldn’t say I expect Michigan to start the season on that long winning streak like it did last season. With all of this being said, should we expect some growing pains? Of course, we should. Whether that be through the transfer portal or guys coming back another year, you won’t see Juwan throw out an all-18-year-old freshmen lineup. He’ll always have some veterans starting or getting heavy minutes off the bench. Juwan is a veteran basketball coach, with a veteran mind, who likes veteran players on his team. Howard definitely likes his younger guys, but he isn’t just going to throw them into the ringer when they aren’t ready. I don’t know if we’ll ever see Juwan Howard pull a Duke or Kentucky and start almost all freshmen at once. That shouldn’t detract from the overall talent on the roster, and 80% of the projected starters being multi-start college basketball players. Michigan Basketball: Big Ten power rankings.Michigan Recruiting: Expected Visitors for June 2nd Weekend.11 Recruits that Michigan Football Can Land During June Official Visits.Michigan Wolverines news: A new 2025 QB offer, CFB playoff odds, and more. Michigan Football: A new crystal ball, plus a top target to visit MSU.Yes, Michigan is a younger team than it was last season, but that happens pretty much every season. The media sometimes blows things out of proportion. Yes, we won’t ultimately know how good DeVante Jones can really be until he actually suits up for U-M and plays some games, but he is still an experienced guard who has started for multiple seasons and was Sun Belt Player of the Year last year. Out of 14 scholarship players, I counted only five that were first-year players, and only one of those players (Caleb Houstan) is a projected starter for this upcoming season. If we look into it even further, Michigan has experience (non-first-year players) at three of the most important positions on the court which are the two guards spots and the center position. Out of Michigan’s most likely starting five of DeVante Jones, Eli Brooks, Caleb Houstan, Brandon Johns, and Hunter Dickinson, only one of those players has never actually started a college basketball game, and he may be the best player of the group. While it is true that Michigan basketball lost A LOT of production and talent from last season’s Elite Eight team, and that definitely can’t be understated, at the same time, the team isn’t as young and as inexperienced as the media keeps claiming they are. But there are some media analysts out there that are saying that because Michigan basketball lost Isaiah Livers, Chaundee Brown, Franz Wagner, and Mike Smith, they have no chance of being a great team just like last season. If you add it all up, the Wolverines will be one of the most talented teams in the country this upcoming season. DeVante Jones decided to pull his name out of the draft and enroll at Michigan, and then Hunter Dickinson pulled his name out a day after. Yesterday was a great day to be a Michigan basketball fan.
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