The Michigan basketball year ended just days ago, yet already the program is at work constructing next year’s team.
Elliot Cadeau, the starting point guard for North Carolina this past year, has decided to transfer to Michigan, an individual with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Free Press on condition on anonymity because it’s not official. Cadeau, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound ball handler from West Orange, New Jersey, has played in 74 career games with 68 starts.
He’s not a primary scoring threat, averaging just 9.4 points on 44.5% shooting while making just 33.7% on 3-pointers on fewer than three such attempts per game. However, he will immediately become the team’s best facilitator. Cadeau averaged 6.2 assists per game and had a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio on the season. He had a 14-point, 13-assist double-double against Wake Forest and another with 12 points and 12 assists against Campbell.
Cadeau was an extremely highly regarded prospect coming to college out Link Academy as the No. 2 point guard in the country, the No. 2 player in the state of Missouri and the No. 11 prospect regardless of position in the 2023 class.
The news isn’t all positive, however. Reports also surfaced Monday evening that Sam Walters, U-M’s sharpshooting sophomore who transferred into the program this past season from Alabama, has put his name in the portal as well.
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The 6-foot-10, 200-pound forward played in 23 games during his season in Ann Arbor and averaged 5.0 points and 1.6 rebounds while shooting 36.6% from 3. Walters missed the final 14 games of the year with a back injury and did not travel with the team for their two stops in the NCAA tournament in either Denver or Atlanta.
It’s likely U-M will continue to be active in the portal − considering they likely still have to replace both halves of the Area-51 duo in Vladislav Godin (out of eligibility) and Danny Wolf (projected first-round pick), but Cadeau is a fantastic start for Dusty May and company.
In addition, Jace Howard, the son of former Michigan head coach and Fab Five member Juwan Howard, decided to put his name in the transfer portal after playing one season under May after his father was fired.
Last week, Justin Pippen, a freshman point guard and son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, decided to enter the transfer portal, a program source confirmed to the Free Press.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball lands North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau, Sam Walters enters portal
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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