Michigan Basketball Coach Kyle Church Praises Key SEC Transfer

The Wolverines have a large 2026 recruiting class, featuring six freshmen and three transfers. It is a strong class that ranks inside the top-10 in the nation.

Michigan basketball assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church sat down on the Defend the Den podcast on Tuesday (May 5) and talked about the recruiting process.

One of the Wolverines' most important recruits is former Tennessee big man J.P. Estrella, who spent three years in Knoxville and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

"When you really start to study his game, I thought there's a lot of similarities to Morez (Johnson Jr.), where you have a big, strong — Is he a '4'? Is he a '5'? Who really cares? He's a really good basketball player,” said Church. “He's tough. He has a motor. I think he's going to be a good jump shooter just like we saw Morez develop into.”

The strength of the Wolverines last season was their powerful frontcourt. The three-headed monster of Yaxel Lendeborg, Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara is what brought home the national championship for the Maize and Blue. Bringing in a guy like Estrella will immediately help fill that void.

UofM landed Estrella early in the transfer portal process, as he was the first of three to commit to play in Ann Arbor.

"That one moved extremely quickly,” said Church. “Obviously, when you lose your starting '3,' 4,' and '5,' you know you're going to need some big guys. We saw JP up close, got to scout him live in another game, and obviously watched a ton of film on him. His size and mobility jumped right out at you. His motor and his intensity and his selflessness after getting just a Zoom or two and just talking on the phone — his passion for basketball, all that stuff were additives to what we saw as the physical characteristics.”

May has shown the ability to utilize and improve the play of his frontcourt. Expect nothing different with Estrella. He will be a key piece in the 2026-27 season and a likely starter for the Maize and Blue.