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Dusty May, Michigan score major transfer portal win
Michigan head coach Dusty May. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dusty May, Michigan score major transfer portal win

By Andrew Kulha  |  Last updated Apr 9, 2026 6:19 PM ET

Dusty May won a national championship in just his second season as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines because of his ability to get after it in the transfer portal.

He put together an elite team this past season, and he used the transfer portal to do it.

Superstar forward Yaxel Lendeborg transferred from UAB. Point guard Elliot Cadeau came from North Carolina. Forward Morez Johnson Jr. transferred from Illinois and center Aday Mara came from UCLA.

Michigan's title was built in the transfer portal, and now the Wolverines are already getting back after it.

It's being reported that Tennessee big man J.P. Estrella has now transferred to Michigan via the transfer portal. 

Checking in at 6-foot-11, Estrella has two years of eligibility remaining to use in Ann Arbor.

J.P. Estrella is one of the best big men in the transfer portal 

He's a former four-star recruit, ranked as the No. 8 center in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. 

He averaged just five minutes a game as a freshman and then missed most of his true sophomore season due to a season-ending injury. As a redshirt sophomore for the Volunteers in 2025-26, he averaged 10 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Estrella averaged 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in this past NCAA Tournament. That included seven points and seven rebounds against Michigan in Tennessee's 95-62 loss to the Wolverines in the Elite Eight.

247Sports ranks Estrella as the No. 5 power forward in the transfer portal. 

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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