The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team saw a wave of transfers once this past season concluded, with guards David DeJulius and Cole Bajema, and center Colin Castleton all departing the program.
All three of their exits have had significant impacts on the way head coach Juwan Howard has attempted to structure his 2020-21 roster, which has since begged the question — which of the aforementioned player's departure will have the biggest impact for the Maize and Blue moving forward?
Is it DeJulius, whose exit leaves a hole in U-M's backcourt? Or is it Castleton, whose transfer leaves Michigan thin at the center spot?
TheWolverine's Clayton Sayfie and Austin Fox discuss below, while revealing their answers.
Clayton Sayfie — Buy
All three departures were huge, leaving holes of different sizes on Michigan’s roster. It would be hard to argue Bajema leaving after his freshman season has as much of an impact as Castleton’s or DeJulius’ exits, but his upside is certainly intriguing, to say the least.
Castleton fell out of the rotation for much of the year last season, playing behind Jon Teske and Austin Davis and only averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in 7.9 minutes.
But, with Teske gone, there’s going to be opportunity in the post. The 6-11 rising junior would’ve surely competed for the starting center job with Davis and incoming freshman Hunter Dickinson, and who’s to say he wouldn’t have won out in the end?
He has a much higher ceiling than Davis, and Dickinson has quite the adjustment to make from high school ball to the Big Ten. However, it’s less about Castleton and more about what’s left down low.
Even with the aforementioned knocks on the other two big men, there’s enough there to piece things together with Davis, a steady hand, and Dickinson, a future star. The Wolverines also have rising junior forward Brandon Johns, who can slide down to the five spot when needed, making for a much more athletic frontcourt that can switch screens like it’s nothing.
I believe Michigan is better off down low — with that blend of youth, experience and athleticism — than they are in the backcourt. Speaking of the backcourt situation, there’s only five eligible scholarship guards on the roster, and two of them — Franz Wagner and Adrien Nunez — are more wing than guard.
DeJulius leaving was one of the more puzzling of the moves, since he was trending in the right direction, with his best game of the season being the last game against Maryland, where he posted a career-high 20 points.
With Zavier Simpson gone, it was only natural to believe DeJulius would compete for the starting point guard job, or at least play major minutes at the one or the two after averaging 7.0 points per game off the bench a year ago.
DeJulius’ departure is the biggest hit, in my mind, because he was the most experienced out of the trio and was due to play more minutes than the others. Replacing him will be difficult, especially considering newcomer Mike Smith has to transition from the Ivy League to the Big Ten — not an easy task.
Now, freshman Zeb Jackson will likely play significant minutes, even though the ideal would be for him to take a year to develop before being in the rotation.
All this being said, if new transfer commit Chaundee Brown is deemed eligible, that helps the backcourt outlook mightily, and may throw a wrench in the entire argument, making Castleton's departure — quite possibly — the bigger blow.
Austin Fox — Buy
This is a tough one, especially when considering how thin Michigan is at the center spot that Castleton left behind and the guard spots that DeJulius and Bajema both vacated. DeJulius and Castleton (and potentially even Bajema) likely would have played major roles on next year’s team when considering the help that is needed at both of their respective positions, with the focus for this article now turning to which spot is in better shape with both players no longer around.
Center at least has somewhat of a proven commodity in fifth-year senior-to-be Austin Davis, though incoming freshman Hunter Dickinson will now be forced to contribute right from the get-go due to a lack of numbers at the position.
It’s fair to tab fellow fifth-year senior-to-be Mike Smith, meanwhile, as an unknown at point guard, despite the fact that he averaged 22.8 points and 4.5 assists per game last season at Columbia.
It’s impossible to predict how he’ll perform as Michigan’s floor general next year (assuming he earns the starting role), though, when considering athletes who transfer from a mid-major team to a power conference school seldom post anything more than mediocre statistics.
With senior-to-be Eli Brooks viewed as more of a two-guard than an actual point guard, it would have been crucial having DeJulius operating Michigan’s offense as a junior in 2020-21.
His production intensified significantly last season when he averaged seven points in 20.9 minutes per game, and showed flashes of being a reliable scoring threat (20 points at Maryland, 14 against both Oregon and Iowa State, etc.).
Just as Castleton’s departure will force a freshman in Dickinson into action immediately at center, the same impact will be had by DeJulius’ exit in Michigan’s backcourt, with freshman guard Zeb Jackson likely having to see the court immediately next season.
DeJulius’ transfer (and Bajema’s, to a lesser degree) have produced a domino effect in the Wolverines’ backcourt, seeing as how the former was more than capable of playing both guard spots.
His presence on Michigan’s 2020-21 roster would have given the Maize and Blue not only a veteran leader running the offense, but would have also taken pressure off of Smith and Jackson from having to produce right away.
Castleton’s presence on next year’s team, meanwhile, likely would have created a three-man rotation at center along with Davis and Dickinson, though it was entirely possible that the 6-11 Florida native would have placed third in that battle anyway.
DeJulius' departure will be felt the most of the three on next year's team, though a strong case could be made for Castleton as well.
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