Michigan basketball coaches back in rebuild mode for 2022-23

Building a college basketball program in this era, at Michigan or anywhere else, has its challenges. As previous head coach John Beilein knew and current coach Juwan Howard is finding out, it’s hard to keep the same team on the floor two years in a row.

RELATED: Michigan forward Moussa Diabate will remain in the NBA Draft

Once again, the Wolverines will be looking for help in the transfer portal to replace departures. This time it’s two in Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan, neither of which seems ready for the NBA or assured to get drafted. They’ll stay in the draft nonetheless and hope for the best after one season at Michigan.

The Wolverines will have four new starters on the floor next season surrounding center Hunter Dickinson. The irony — he seemed like the one most likely to leave at the end of the year after flirting with the NBA last season. Now, he’s the only one back.

But he’s a big one, and given the choice, having him return over either of the other two is a no-brainer. He’s a difference-maker, one of the top players in college basketball … and now he’ll be asked to carry the 2022-23 squad even more.

At power forward, redshirt freshman Will Tschetter and true frosh Tarris Reed are the two who will get first crack with Diabate leaving. Neither has any experience, but both have great potential.

“Will is a legitimate outside shooter. He is a terrific, explosive athlete,” Michigan assistant Phil Martelli said. “Now he’s going to have to combine the mental with the physical defensively. Will’s going to have to balance defensively physicality with awareness … 

“He has got that physicality. He’s a banger, banger, banger, but he’s got to combine that mental and physical and not just be out there slamming away.”

Reed, meanwhile, is a potential future pro, On3.com’s Jamie Shaw told us recently. Martelli sees a kid who works tirelessly to improve and does the little things extremely well.

“He’s an incredible screener. He’s great at pivoting around the basket,” Martelli said. “He blocks out on every single play, and he shows on every ball screen. He’s vocal defensively.”

He isn’t going to power dunk on someone or score at will in the post like Dickinson, he added, but his value will show in other ways at Michigan.

“He’s going to block out on every play, and he’s going to rotate defensively on every play,” Martelli added. “I just like the way he has been coached and the way he has accepted coaching, and he knows what he is. He’s a low post player in a game where that’s almost gone now. But he’s coming to a program and a coach who emphasizes that and knows how to use him.”

Terrance Williams, too, will move between the wing and the four spot. He and Dickinson play well together, and Williams might be one of the surprise players of the season with more time. Williams needs to be better defensively that he was last year, Martelli said, but he can do it.

Jace Howard has made huge strides, too, and will get his shot. He’s more defensive stopper than offensive threat, but he’s coming along.

Michigan coaches will likely look to the transfer portal again for a four man, as well. Northwestern’s Pete Nance would be a gem and a great fit. He shot 42 percent from three-point range last year, knows the Michigan program, having been recruited by Beilein … and he just withdrew his name from the draft.

Pete Nance, who averaged 14.6 points at Northwestern last season, will withdraw from the NBA Draft, sources told @Stadium.

Nance will remain in the transfer portal.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 1, 2022

At the wing, redshirt frosh Isaiah Barnes will get a shot. He and fellow frosh Kobe Bufkin, a former McDonald’s All-American, improved last year, Martelli said.

“His motor … and I think his IQ has really improved,” the Michigan assistant said of Barnes. “And I think the back end of the year he was much more of a shot maker. At the beginning of the year, he was a shot taker. And his body changed. He got stronger. So, he can go, now. 

“When he gets on a run and is scoring, it’s impressive. … he’s really explosive at the rim.”

The jump between the freshman and sophomore year is real, Martelli added, noting Bufkin could break out. He’s a better shooter than he’s shown, he said, but there’s one thing the Michigan sophomore to be still needs work on.

“He has to say a missed shot is a missed shot. It’s not the end of the world,” he said. “In practice, you can see it.” 

Freshman Jett Howard is the other option. They plan on playing him at shooting guard and wing, and he brings something Michigan needs.

“We need shooters,” Martelli said.

And the younger Howard can do that.

“He has everything that it takes to be a superstar on every single level,” Allen Iverson said on the CBS Sports broadcast of his Alll-Star game last month. “It comes so naturally to him … so easy to him.”

Memphis wing Emoni Bates is still available. Michigan has not been recruiting him, but that could change now that Houstan is gone. Illinois’ Jacob Grandison and others are also in the portal, and the U-M coaches will likely kick the tires there, too. Duke transfer and shooter Joey Baker is another one with serious mutual interest.

Either way, this is now an overhaul, not a tweak, the latest annual rebuild for a program in flux.