ATLANTA — Danny Wolf sounded like someone whose Michigan career was over.
The 7-footer who plays like a guard took questions from reporters after Michigan’s season-ending loss to Auburn in the NCAA Tournament.
He grew up a Michigan fan thanks to many family members, including his mom and older sister, having graduated from there. As an unheralded prospect out of high school, he took a scholarship from Yale over a potential walk-on spot with the Wolverines.
He morphed himself into an All-Ivy League player over two seasons before entering the transfer portal last offseason. Dusty May had just been hired at Michigan. Wolf joined him.
See also: The lone Wolf: How Michigan’s 7-foot guard became college basketball’s most unique player
Less than a year later, after 37 games, a Big Ten Tournament title, Sweet 16 appearance and, for Wolf, an exhaustive highlight reel of clever passing, nifty dribbling, impressive shot-making, and strong rebounding, Wolf reflected on his time in Ann Arbor.
“Playing at Michigan this year was the greatest honor of my lifetime,” Wolf said.
Will it be his only year at Michigan?
Wolf wasn’t asked that directly early Saturday morning, in the immediate aftermath of Michigan’s Sweet 16 defeat. (His time at the podium for the official postgame press conference was limited, and he and the other Wolverines who appeared there did not make it back to the locker room while it was still open to media.)
Wolf was asked how he wanted “to be remembered as a Michigan basketball player.” He got emotional talking about leaving Yale for his dream school and the program whose apparel and memorabilia he’d craved as a kid.
Gathering himself, he continued. “It was arguably the greatest year of my life, and I made so many amazing relationships. I met my brothers for life, and we had an unbelievable locker room. We stuck with each other through the ups and downs. It sucks to see it cut short, but yeah, this last year has been the greatest in my life. I have to thank the coaches and my teammates for that.”
Wolf’s play caught the eye of NBA teams. ESPN’s latest NBA draft prospect rankings, updated before the Sweet 16, had Wolf at No. 19. The outlet’s latest mock draft, released just before the start of the Big Ten Tournament, pegged him as the No. 18 pick.
It’s important to remember that Wolf helped Michigan win that tournament as well as two NCAA Tournament games. He scored a team-high 20 points on 9 of 18 shooting against Auburn’s talented frontcourt.
“There’s no prospect quite like Wolf in this draft, with his ability to pass and play on the perimeter at his size,” ESPN’s Jeremy Woo wrote. “His anomalous mix of skills also makes him somewhat divisive — he hasn’t been especially efficient (55.7 true shooting percentage in conference play) and has struggled with turnovers because of the number of risks he takes.
“His draft range is among the wider of our current projected first-rounders, and team fit figures to be paramount to his ability to stick long term.”
May was asked after the Auburn game if he had a sense of whether Wolf will leave for the NBA or use his final year of college eligibility. “No, not really,” May said. “He’s got some tough decisions in front of him because of how well he played this year.”
May said he and his staff will have meetings with all the potential returners to see if “their vision matches our vision and expectations and go from there. We’ll certainly have a core group back. What it looks like, I’m not sure yet, just because these guys have tough decisions as well.”
Starters Vladislav Goldin and Rubin Jones are out of eligibility. Freshman guard Justin Pippen is already in the transfer portal and others could join him. Starting guard Nimari Burnett, due to the NCAA’s COVID waiver and an injury that cost him a full season, will explore staying in school. Reserve forward Will Tschetter, who has spent four years at Michigan but redshirted as a true freshman, will be back.
“Obviously these next few weeks, we’re not gonna have a whole lot of time to reflect and decompress,” May said. “It’s going to be building a roster for next year.”
Getting a feel for Wolf’s thinking figures to be at the top of the priority list. Should Wolf declare for the draft, he would have through May 28 to withdraw his name and still maintain collegiate eligibility.
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