Michigan basketball stands top 10 in On3 transfer portal rankings

Michigan Wolverines basketball has undergone some major roster shuffling this offseason, especially with the transfer portal. The Maize and Blue saw two players — center Hunter Dickinson and guard Isaiah Barnes, who’s since committed to Tulsa — enter the portal. Meanwhile, they’ve picked up three transfers in guards Caleb Love (North Carolina) and Nimari Burnett (Alabama) and forward Tray Jackson (Seton Hall).

The On3 team transfer portal rankings take into account transfers out and transfers in. Michigan checks in No. 8 as of the morning of April 9. The top teams, in order, are Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio State, Wake Forest and UCLA. South Carolina and Colorado trail Michigan and round out the top 10.

• Two reasons for optimism, two concerns: Caleb Love to Michigan basketball

The Wolverines are the only team in the country with three transfer portal commitments, showing how proactive head coach Juwan Howard and his staff have been in securing talent after the departures that also include guards Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard leaving for the 2023 NBA Draft.

Dickinson is the No. 1 player in the portal, considered a four-star. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) predicts he will end up at Maryland. Barnes, meanwhile, is No. 214.

Two of Michigan’s additions — Love and Burnett — are four-star transfer prospects. Love is the fourth-best player in the portal, per On3, and the top combo guard. Burnett ranks No. 111 overall and No. 24 among shooting guards.

Jackson is a three-star transfer, slotting No. 191 in the portal and 27th among power forwards.

According to On3, Love is the best committed transfer in the country. However, the former North Carolina guard is a polarizing prospect. The Athletic has him as the No. 21 player in the portal.

“Michigan is losing Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard to the NBA this offseason, plus Hunter Dickinson is currently in the transfer portal,” the site’s CJ Moore and Sam Vecenie wrote. “To say that creates a need for scoring depth is an understatement. Nobody else returning to Michigan this offseason averaged at least nine points per game. That creates a lot of opportunity for shots for Love, a role he will dutifully fill as well as anyone else in the country.

“Love is a genuine shot creator, a guy that can get a reasonable look out of nothing regularly. Seriously, he is very talented. That can’t be denied. The problem for Love this past season was two-fold. First, he decided to take too many difficult shots at the expense of running more efficient offense. His feel for the game can be quite low. It has to get better. Second, he didn’t make enough of the open ones. He made only 33 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts as well as only 44 percent of his halfcourt attempts at the rim, per Synergy.

“The fit within the offensive scheme will be quite strong, as Michigan loves to run its guards in zoom actions up from the corner to take dribble-hand-offs off of pindown screens. Those actions should create natural advantages for Love.

“This is about as good of a fit as possible for Love, given just the sheer number of shots that will be available for him to create and the scheme. But Michigan desperately needs to fill in the gaps around him before we know how successful the Wolverines will be next season. And it’ll be incumbent upon Juwan Howard to rein in some of Love’s wilder tendencies.”

Love is No. 12 on CBS Sports’ list.

Only time will tell how Love and Michigan fit together, as well as what kind of impact Burnett and Jackson will have. One thing is clear, though, by looking at the On3 transfer portal rankings — the Wolverines have done a solid job in the early going.

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