The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL 33.0 minutes per game. The second- team All-Mid-American Conference selection shot 47.6 percent on two- point field goals (89 of 187), 40.2 per- cent on threes (72 of 179) and 86.2 per- cent on free throws (106 of 123). He'll visit U-M the week of April 14. • Connor Essegian, G, Wiscon- sin: A freshman All-Big Ten selection a year ago, Essegian saw his role diminish greatly in 2023-24. He didn't appear in any of Wisconsin's last three games and didn't play more than 10 minutes since Feb. 13 against Ohio State. He lost his confidence and averaged only 3.2 points per contest this year after 11.7 in his first season, seeing only 7.4 minutes of game action. Essegian grew up a Michigan fan and would likely have ended up in Ann Arbor had U-M recruited him. The 6-foot-4 guard from Fort Wayne, Ind., set a Bad- gers frosh record with 69 triples in his first season and can shoot it. Indiana will likely be the play here if he doesn't end up at U-M. He's expected to visit Michigan around April 11. • Ja s o n R ive ra -To r re s, G/ F, Vanderbilt: Rivera-Torres, a former four-star, was the second-highest- ranked player in Virginia. He averaged 15.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.6 steals, 3.4 assists and 1.4 blocks as a senior, and the 6-foot-6 guard/forward chose Vanderbilt over Texas A&M, Fordham, San Diego and Florida Atlantic. Rivera-Torres played in 29 games with the Commodores in the 2023-24 season. The Bronx, N.Y., native led Vanderbilt freshmen in scoring with 6.4 points per game. He's also considering a return to Vandy, but it's clear he has a solid rela- tionship with May from originally being recruited by FAU. • Carey Booth, F, Notre Dame: Booth was a freshman this season and would have three years of eligibility re- maining, a former four-star prospect and the No. 59 overall player in the country in the 2023 recruiting class. He averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season for the Fighting Irish and also has stretch capabilities, shooting 29.7 percent from three on 3.5 attempts per game. Michigan recruited him under Juwan Howard. Booth will consider a return to South Bend while he seeks out his potential opportunities in the transfer portal. The 6-foot-10 forward had previously committed to play for head coach Mi- cah Shrewsberry at Penn State before he was hired to take the job at Notre Dame, but Michigan, Ohio State, Il- linois, Texas and Colorado State are in the mix. He plans on setting up visits after the dead period ends April 11 and wants to commit "sooner than later," though he doesn't have a timetable. "I want to go to a play for a coach that believes in me. That is the most impor- tant thing," he said. "And play in a pro- gram that lets me play my game. They play faster, run, and get up the floor. When the team is rebounding and flying around, everything opens up." He believes May wants to do just that. "They are going to play at a fast pace. Coach May had a great run at FAU," he said. "They have not had any play- ers like me at FAU, but they were in a lower conference, so they are going to get more guards. He plays with a lot of space, and they want me to play inside out." • Kolby King, G, Tulane: Michigan is among the schools contacting King the most, he said recently, along with Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Arkansas, USC, Oklahoma State, Dayton, Butler, George Mason, East Carolina, Wich- ita State, Rice and Murray State. King played his freshman season at St. John's in 2022-23 and sophomore year with Tulane in 2023-24. He has two years of eligibility remaining. The 6-2, 190-pounder started 23 of 31 games this past season, averaging 10.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while playing both guard spots for the Green Wave. He shot 56.1 percent on twos (69 of 123), 36.8 percent on threes (35 of 95) and 74.4 percent at the free throw line (58 of 78). DUSTY MAY PUTTING TOGETHER HIS FIRST U-M COACHING STAFF Dusty May has hit the ground running in assembling a team and a staff for the 2024-25 season, having shown interest in several potential transfers and fresh- men and getting commitments from a few coaches to join him. Though there had been rumblings from Tennessee sources on assistant coach Rod Clark and Michigan, noth- ing had materialized as of April 9. That meant May was still looking for two more coaches to join former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton and for- mer Georgia assistant Akeem Miskdeen, both of whom had been reported to be coming to U-M but not yet officially announced by the school. Sources told The Wolverine April 7 that May was slated to bring his former Florida Atlantic assistant, Kyle Church, with him as one of his other assistants, plus former FAU assistant to the head coach Brandon Gilbert, probably as his director of basketball operations. The latter was a position held by former Wolverine Chris Hunter at Michigan. Church has worked for and with May for the past 11 years. He was an assistant coach for May at FAU since 2018. Prior to that, he was director of basketball operations at Louisiana Tech for two seasons and at Florida for three, where May was an assistant coach. Gilbert also is a longtime member of May's staff. He spent the past six years at FAU with both May and Church. Prior to that, he spent four years as direc- tor of basketball operations at Samford and was a grad assistant at Florida from 2011-14. ❑ Vladislav Goldin, a 7-foot-1 center from Florida Atlantic, averaged career highs of 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game for coach Dusty May this past season. PHOTO COURTESY FAU ATHLETICS