By Aidan Joly
Michigan probably was not the team that many thought would win, much less dominate in the way it did, during the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas throughout the past week.
Dominate the Wolverines did.
Michigan won each of its three games by 30 or more points, two of them it won by 40, including in the championship game against a Gonzaga team that is a top-10 team in the country. On the way to that they beat San Diego State by 40 and Auburn by 30. That type of winning puts the Wolverines right at the of the conversation for who is the best team in the country.
Why is this?
The Wolverines have the No. 1 ranked KenPom defense in the country. They have the No. 3 defense in the nation when it comes to effective field goal percentage and they are the top team in defensive field goal percentage when it comes to shots inside the three-point arc. Quite simply, they don’t give up many two-point buckets.
When you look at the roster of this team, a strong argument was being made over the summer that the Wolverines landing Yaxel Lendeborg was the most important transfer addition of the off-season. That argument looks to be the right one as he has averaged 16 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as Michigan has gotten off to a 7-0 start. He is a guy who will be in the national player of the year conversation if he and the team keeps this up.
North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau has been better than expected. He dished out 13 assists in the win against Gonzaga. Morez Johnson has become an incredibly effective shooter to the tune of a field goal percentage of over 66%, he shot over 70% in Las Vegas.
Roddy Gayle has taken a major step in his second season with the Wolverines after transferring in from Ohio State in 2024. Trey McKenney has been very, very good right out of the gate as a freshman. Aday Mara has taken a step up to become a better player after transferring in from UCLA. Nimari Burnett was in double figures in all three games of the event. All in all, it creates an offense that is ranked No. 11 in KenPom as of Sunday night.
It is incredible what Dusty May has been able to do in just a short time with this program. Things were looking good in the first few years under former head coach Juwan Howard, but the program was something of a laughingstock two seasons ago when it went 8-24, resulting in Howard getting his pink slip.
Enter May, a Big Ten guy who everyone thought would be the heir apparent at Indiana, landing the job. Last year was an incredible year one, resulting in 27 wins, a Big Ten tournament title and a trip to the Sweet 16. This year, it looks like a contender to not just repeat as Big Ten champions, but win a national championship.
Certainly, there are arguments that can be made for a few other teams. Duke looks absolutely incredible and has the best player in the country in Cameron Boozer. Purdue is the No. 1 team in the country in the AP poll and has the top offense in the country. Arizona has wins in either neutral or road environments against Florida, UCLA and UConn.
All have great metrics, but when you look at it top to bottom, it makes sense to put Michigan at the top of the list.
A few other thoughts from the Players Era event…
Iowa State has upped its resume in a big way by going 3-0 in Vegas with wins against St. John’s, Creighton and Syracuse. At least two of those teams will have high seeds in the NCAA tournament and those wins could make or break if the Cyclones are seeded ahead of them or not.
Speaking of St. John’s, it might not be time to panic about the Red Storm quite yet but Rick Pitino’s squad going 1-2 in Vegas to drop t0 4-3 overall is a little bit concerning. The roster construction did leave a bit to be desired coming into the season and those flaws are showing.
Auburn’s only loss at Players Era came to Michigan but it grabbed wins against Oregon and St. John’s to go 2-1 in the event. The Tigers don’t seem to be missing much of a beat after a coaching change from Bruce to Steven Pearl just weeks before the season began.
AJ Hoops 