Danny Wolf’s arrival has helped turned Michigan around. (Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
Tom Izzo’s chance to become the Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach will have to wait as the team fell short on Tuesday; UConn freshman Liam McNeeley — in just his second game back in the wake of an ankle injury — went off for a career-best 38 points; and Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome continue to pace the field for the Wooden Award. Some other college basketball stories we’re following include…
A Wolf in Wolverine’s Clothing
The Michigan Wolverines hit rock bottom last season, going 8-24 for its worst season since 1960-61. But with Juwan Howard out and Dusty May in as the new coach, the team has undergone a simply incredible turnaround, much of that driven by some fantastic transfer portal acquisitions.
By running its win streak to five with a huge upset win over No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday, the Wolverines are now 19-5 including an 11-2 conference mark to lead the Big Ten. The 20th ranked Wolverines will assuredly return to the NCAA Tourney after missing out the last two seasons.
Junior big man Danny Wolf – Michigan’s leading rebounder and block man – continued his recent uptick in offense to help the team to the win on Tuesday, scoring 15 points including a couple of free throws in the final seconds to seal the deal.
He has now scored at least 15 points in four straight and has flirted with double-doubles in the last five, accomplishing the feat twice. A transfer from Yale this season, Wolf has seen a slightly reduced role at Michigan, yet has continued to increase his rebounding numbers while also shooting better, both from two and three point range. The kid knows how to clean it up off the glass (see video below).
An Israeli-American, he played for Israel’s national team at the 2023 FIBA Under-20 European Championship. Wolf brings an intriguing skillset to the table (especially his ball handling and passing as a big) that has NBA potential, but he will need to make smarter decisions and improve his defense. He’s not the greatest rim protector so is probably best suited to be a power forward in the NBA.
Even so, Wolf looks like he could be a mid-first round pick this year and perhaps one day develop into Nikola Jokic Light.
Tiger Turnaround
Speaking of fantastic program turnarounds, how about the Missouri Tigers? After a highly successful debut, Year Two of the Dennis Gates era did not go so well as the team scuffled to an 8-24 mark. This season, however, Missouri is kicking ass, despite a recent skid (back-to-back losses, and three defeats in the last five).
Still, the 21st-ranked Tigers are 17-6 (6-4 in the SEC), so should easily return to the Tourney after missing out last season.
As mentioned, Missouri has dropped its last two, but really hung in there against some very tough competition (a four point loss against No. 5 Tennessee and a three-point defeat at the hands of No. 8 Texas A&M that was decided by a three-point bucket with just 2.1 seconds to play). The Tigers are heavily favoured to snap their losing streak on Wednesday (8.5-point favourites over Oklahoma as per FanDuel).
In Saturday’s loss, senior guard Tamar Bates led the way as usual, scoring 16 points with two treys, three boards and a steal. He’s managed at least 14 points in four straight and has upped his scoring this season despite seeing a bit less PT. Bates is getting to the line at the same rate, but has managed to improve his shooting from everywhere – the line, beyond the arc, and inside.
He’s especially been good at home from downtown in recent weeks, averaging 2.5 treys over the last half dozen games when Missouri was hosting. Bates, who spent the first half of his career at Indiana, needs to show more of a floor game if he hopes to play in the NBA. He’s a possible second rounder, but more likely will be signed as an undrafted free agent.
We’ve seen Bates compared to Tim Hardaway Jr., but unless Bates becomes more of a volume shooter and proves he can be a distributor, achieving that level of an NBA career seems like a bit of a stretch.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
American blues singer John Lee Hooker got his start in the 1930s and remained active until his death in 2001. In 1962, he released Burnin’ which included blues standard “Boom Boom,” the song with which he is most identified with.