Friday Discussion: Who will play the most minutes at SF for Michigan Basketball next year?

The Michigan men’s basketball roster is nearing completion following the program’s announcement of several signings from the freshman class and the transfer portal this week.

While Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. could still hypothetically return, that seems doubtful now given the quantity of incoming transfers. At this moment, a reasonable prognosticator would have Michigan starting Elliot Cadeau at point guard, Trey McKenney at shooting guard, J.P. Estrella at power forward and Moustapha Thiam at center.

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So who will start along side them at small forward?

Let’s start with the remaining elephant in the room — Juke Harris. Dusty May and company had been pursuing the Wake Forest transfer heavily, as he was the nearest replacement for Yaxel Lendeborg. Harris was in Ann Arbor for the national championship celebration and many thought a commitment was imminent. Since then, his recruitment has slowed down dramatically.

Harris seems likely to wait to make a decision until after he goes through the NBA process. It’s likely he will return to college, but the Tennessee Volunteers have put the full-court press on Harris. Tennessee is now the heavy favorite to land his services, so it seems unlikely Harris will start at small forward for Michigan.

In the absence of any rumors surrounding more portal targets, let’s focus our attention inward. The current roster contains an unproven wing in Ricky Liburd. The 6-foot-4 wing out of Hollywood, California redshirted this past season after flying under the radar in the recruiting process. May identified him late in the process and flipped him to Michigan. While he didn’t make an appearance this past season, internal chatter seems to suggest May could have found a hidden gem in Liburd.

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Looking at the newcomers, Michigan brought in Jalen Reed (LSU) and J.P. Estrella (Tennessee). While both play the 4 primarily, they are each 6-foot-10 or taller. While May enjoyed utilizing a huge lineup this past season,…

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Publish date : 2026-05-01 16:00:00

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