In 2025, the Michigan Wolverines aren’t just dominant. They’re giants presiding over the college basketball scene with an iron fist. Yes, there are numerous undefeated teams left in the nation, but the Wolverines are the lone squad with four straight 30-plus point blowouts on their résumé. Two of them against top 25 programs.
They defeated all three teams on their way to the Players Era championship in Las Vegas by a combined 110 points. They have the best defensive rating in the country, according to KenPom. They force opponents to shoot just 34.6 percent from the field. And their roster boasts one of the best transfer classes in the country, a top-15 recruiting class and numerous high-impact returners, led by starting point guard Elliot Cadeau and projected lottery pick Yaxel Lendeborg.
“Everybody that we picked up from the transfer portal kind of had a chip on their shoulder,” Elliot says. “Whether it was like they weren’t in the situation they wanted to be in or they felt like they kind of underachieved in the situation that they was in. I feel like that kind of gives us the attitude that we play with on the court.”
Four players out of Dusty May’s nine-man rotation are spending their first seasons in Ann Arbor, Cadeau and Lendeborg included. Elliot’s dictating the flow of the game while averaging 8.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists a game after spending the past two seasons at UNC. And Yaxel’s skyrocketing up draft boards with 15.8 points, 7.6 boards and 1.4 blocks a game following his rise from JuCo to UAB.
Jared ebanks 