Connor Cagley, Big Sports Radio Basketball Writer
October 20, 2022
It's time to take a spin around the Big Ten to take a quick look across the conference to set up the upcoming 2022-23 men's basketball season. I'll take a look at two teams on Mondays and Thursdays for the next few weeks as we get ready for college basketball games to tip off.
Hunter Dickinson courtesy Michigan Athletics
Key Additions: Tarris Reed, Jr., Jaelin Llewellyn, Jett Howard, Youssef Khayat
Other Additions: Dug McDaniel, Gregg Glenn, Joey Baker
Key Departures: Eli Brooks, DeVante' Jones, Caleb Houstan, Moussa Diabate
Other Departures: Zeb Jackson, Frankie Collins, Brandon Johns, Jr.
Like Illinois, Michigan is another team in the conference with a high level of turnover. Despite the turnover, they hope to challenge for the top of the league due to a highly ranked recruiting class. With arguably the best player in the entire conference – Hunter Dickinson – Michigan will have a coveted piece to build around. He can affect the game on both ends of the court.
While Dickinson had high numbers last season, it’s unlikely he’ll increase those numbers this season. That said, Michigan’s success will depend on other players making a jump alongside him. As for returning players, Terrance Williams and Kobe Bufkin are the two most likely players to make said jump. Williams is a versatile combo forward with the ability to stretch out to three. Bufkin is an athletic, slashing guard who is much better shooting from deep than his percentage as a freshman would indicate.
Of their new additions, Jett Howard – Juwan’s son – looks to be a very promising prospect. At 6’7” he’s well built, can shoot the three and is a willing defender. Tarris Reed, Jr. should provide similar levels of contribution to last year’s freshman Moussa Diabate who left for the draft. He does not provide as much versatility on the defensive end, but should be more polished as a low post scorer. While Michigan didn’t meet most regular season expectations last year, they were still able to make it to the Sweet 16 when the tournament rolled around. Don’t look for them to come out slow this season, as they will have learned from past mistakes.
Ceiling: First in conference
Floor: Fifth in conference
Jamison Battle courtesy Minnesota Athletics
Key Additions: Dawson Garcia, Ta’lon Cooper, Pharrel Payne, Taurus Samuels
Other Additions: Braedan Carrington, Kadyn Betts, Josh Ola-Joseph, Jaden Henley
Key Departures: Payton Willis, EJ Stephens, Luke Loewe, Eric Curry
Other Departures: Abdoulaye Thiam, Sean Sutherlin, Charlie Daniels
Minnesota was one of the worst teams in the conference last year. As a result, they will have nowhere to go but up. There are no big time recruits in this class, but Coach Ben Johnson was able to add solid building blocks to the program. A strong add is former top fifty prospect Dawson Garcia who transferred from North Carolina. He provides a solid second scoring option to take some of the burden off of Jamison Battle. This will provide Battle the opportunity to to focus on his efficiency and hopefully not have to play 37 minutes a game which he did out of necessity last season.
While they made additions to their back court, it’s unclear how much of an upgrade this is over last season’s back court. Their two most experienced back court options will be Ta’lon Cooper and Taurus Samuels who are both taking a step up in competitions after transferring from Morehead State and Dartmouth, respectively.
Don’t look for this team to challenge for the conference title this season, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them take a step up from their 4 and 16 conference record last season. This is one of the youngest teams in the conference and should be set up for success moving forward as they continue to add more talent.
Ceiling: Ninth in conference
Floor: Thirteenth in conference
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