Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May has landed four transfer portal commitments in four days as Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle announced his commitment to the Wolverines on Monday via Joe Tipton.
Gayle is a 6-foot-4 guard who scored 13.5 points per game for the Buckeyes last season in addition to 3.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds. The top 50 recruit coming out of high school is also ranked 46th among transfers according to 247 Sports. Gayle is also ranked 10th according to the Athletic.
There’s a lot to like about Gayle. One of his strengths is getting to the rim. He had 15 dunks last season, which was more than anyone on the Michigan basketball roster. Landing a double-digit scorer from the Big Ten is a no-brainer, especially with the defensive upside offered by Gayle.
He was one of Ohio State’s best defenders. The Wolverines have now added multiple players who can play guard/wing and are solid on defense. That will fix a lot of issues from last season when Michigan baskeball just didn’t have enough dudes athletic enough to stop the ball.
Dusty May has made sure that won’t be an issue. It also feels like he just landed his starting two-guard for next season and here’s the full breakdown of what this commitment means for Michigan basketball.
Breaking down Roddy Gayle’s commitment to Michigan basketball
As I wrote on Sunday, when Gayle was projected to Michigan, I feel like this move is connected with Johnell Davis. Since the former FAU star entered the portal, we haven’t heard a peep about him coming to the Wolverines except for a visit that didn’t happen.
The two players are very similar. Davis and Gayle are scoring guards. They both averaged three assists per game last season and while Gayle didn’t score 18 points per game like Davis, the upside is there.
Last season, Gayle shot just 28 percent from 3-point range. As a freshman, he shot 42.9 percent. That was on fewer attempts but the kid can shoot. He dealt with a wrist injury last season, which was likely a factor. But he shot 83 percent from the free throw line and that was after shooting 81 percent as a freshman.
Even with his poor deep shooting, Gayle made 44 percent of his shots. He was elite at getting to the rim and scored 32 points against West Virginia. If Gayle can duplicate last season but shoot around 35 percent from 3, he could be an All-Big Ten Player.
Like Tre Donaldson, Gayle is also an effective two-way player. He’s not just a scorer. Gayle has size and can guard multiple spots. I will say, if Dusty May was able to land Johnell Davis, the two could play next to each other. However, they are the same kind of player, so you wonder if there would be enough shots to go around.
Securing Vlad Goldin’s commitment should be the top priority. Michigan is also looking at other forwards and hosted Seth Walters, a 6-foot-10 forward who averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds for Alabama last season as a freshman. He visited Michigan basketball this weekend and those are two names to watch in terms of the next commitments.
If May is able to land both of those guys, that might be a wrap for the transfer portal. You’d have depth in the frontcourt, backcourt, and on the wing. You have multiple guys capable of being All-Conference players and a pretty obvious starter or some good options at each position.
What May has built in a short time is impressive. I doubt he’s done though and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another commitment in the near future.
More must-reads: