CHICAGO — Danny Wolf was at last year’s NBA draft combine — sort of. He was meeting with Michigan strength coach Matt Aldred in the weight room on the fourth floor of the Marriott Marquis Chicago, the same hotel where combine participants do interviews with media and NBA teams, adjacent to the arena where they take the court.
“I was extremely enamored by all the NBA logos and the guys walking around,” Wolf said on Wednesday. “To be here today, it’s super surreal.”
Wolf was an invited guest this year. He didn’t always get much playing time in high school and began his college career at Yale, which has produced just four NBA players. Yet after one season at Michigan, he’s turned himself into a likely first-round NBA draft pick.
Wolf’s journey has brought him to the combine this week in Chicago, a half hour from where he grew up, to interview with NBA teams, get measured, and perform various drills.
He said he wasn’t as nervous during the interviews as he expected. “Being in a room with a bunch of decision makers at different teams, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “You’ve just got to be yourself and be authentic.”
He said he’s fielded some random non-basketball questions, and that continued in Wednesday’s session with the media. Asked if he’d wear Crocs on draft night for $1 million, he couldn’t decide. But he was certain that he’d rather have his name mispronounced by the commissioner — unlikely in his case — than trip while taking the stage to shake his hand. “You can’t trip on stage,” he said. “That would be in the history books forever.”
On the court, Wolf measured just under 6-foot-11 barefoot with a 7-foot-2 wingspan. He didn’t shoot the ball as well as he would have liked; he hopes to improve upon that in individual team workouts before the June 25 draft.
Wolf, like most projected first-round picks, opted not to participate in Wednesday’s five-on-five action, per his agent’s advice. He did sit in the stands to watch his Michigan teammate Vladislav Goldin.
In a mock draft updated this week, ESPN projected Wolf as the No. 17 pick, highlighting his versatility as a supersized ball handler and passer.
Rather than citing a particular draft slot or team, Wolf said “the best situation I can get into I would say is probably where I want to end up.” He wants a good fit, wherever that might be.
Before arriving in Chicago, Wolf was in California training with other CAA clients, including likely No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, a challenge Wolf has relished. “Coop’s an unbelievable kid,” he said. “I’ve been able to become pretty close with him. We’ve kind of grown a great friendship recently. He pushes me as does (Johnni Broome and others).”
Wolf is one year (two full semesters) away from graduating, and he plans to continue working toward getting his Michigan degree.
First, though, he’ll continue preparing for the biggest night of his life. “I’m lucky to be here,” he said. “My basketball journey was anything but linear.” He [flashed great potential in high school](https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2025/02/the-lone-wolf-how-michigans-7-foot-guard-became-college-basketballs-most-unique-player.html) but was far from a top recruit. After a breakout sophomore season at Yale, he leveled up to Michigan and the Big Ten, where he averaged 13.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game to help the Wolverines win the Big Ten Tournament and reach the Sweet 16.
Now he’s on the verge of realizing a childhood dream. Would he have believed this was in the cards just a few years ago?
“I want to say I’d call you crazy,” Wolf said, “but deep down I always knew it would be possible.”