Just when we thought we were out, we pulled him back in! Tennessee big Olivier Nkamhoua just announced he's committed to Michigan.

This is, uh, *REALLY* big news for the basketball program, which was one wing from making the Tournament last year and has spent the offseason taking body blows. Nkamhoua led Tennessee's offense last year in overall usage, and was one of the best defensive pieces of the best defensive team in the country. His statistical profile is that of a do-everything four.

Michigan was in dire need of help in the frontcourt after losing Hunter Dickinson, and very seriously in need of guys who could soak up attention after losing both Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard to the draft, and expected portal replacement Caleb Love to our own transfer credits intransigence. If you're wondering why you don't remember Olivier from the Tournament game a few years back, he was hurt in the middle of that season. That was a big blow to those Vols, who had to lean hard on a freshman backcourt in his absence. 

Adding the Finnish forward now gives Michigan a serious defensive presence, and a major roll man and finisher at the rim, with adequate shooting, rebounding and spacing. Given the roster makeup, Nkamhoua is probably going to have to be their #2 scoring option, or more specifically the pick & roll game between him and rising sophomore PG Dug McDaniel will be the cornerstone of their offense. The career 36% three-point shooter can also step out about as effectively as Dickinson could.

More importantly it fixes one of the major holes in the roster, and gives fans hope of at least returning to the Tournament, though returning to contending for the Big Ten would still require a lot of work and/or major developments from the guys they return.

[Hit THE JUMP for a quick scouting report and how he fits]

Recruiting Story

Nkamhoua was trying to go the NBA route until he was not invited to the Combine, and pulled his name from the draft. He also pursued options overseas. If college happened Michigan was long rumored to be his preferred destination, but some schools throwing around major NIL incentives picked up a lot of momentum once pro options seemed to be exhausted. Reports came in yesterday that Michigan was back in it for Nkamhoua after an announcement from Joe Tipton on Monday that it was down to Baylor and West Virginia.

Sam Webb was like I "don't know that I've seen Michigan achieve a bball recruiting comeback like the one it just pulled off."

Things certainly looked dire yesterday. That new Michigan was out came around the same time Michigan learned they were out of it for UC Riverside Zyon Pullin, who would have shored up the wing-guard spots that at times we hoped Bufkin, Howard, and Love would fill. Michigan does still have Bama/Texas Tech transfer Nimari Burnett coming in to add more athleticism to their defense, but scoring for next year was basically, "uh, Dug, and, uh."

Highlights

From College Basketball Scouting:

Scouting

Davis Mosely of 247 sees Nkamhoua as an All-B10 addition.

At 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, Nkamhoua is a big body, physical four man. He excels in the high post and when cutting to the basket. He picks his spots, makes plays for others, and alters shots at a high level. His ceiling is an all-conference player who immediately raises UM’s floor and ceiling. An elite athlete with an NBA body, he very well could turn himself into a pro prospect.

Joe Yeager called him the "most athletic 6'9" player in CBB last season."

Offensively, Nkamhoua has every weapon in the arsenal. He has an excellent midrange face-up jumper and even shoots it respectably from beyond the arc. Nkamhoua is comfortable with his back to the basket, and can hit the turn-around J, or put it on the deck and get to the hoop where he is a ferocious finisher. Nkamhoua can also face up and drive it effectively from about 16 feet in. And finally, he is a lethal weapon on the screen-and-roll.

NBA scouts are understandably harsher. NBA Scouting Live calls him a decent shooter, low post scorer, playmaker, and rebounder for his size who "excels at scoring on off-ball motion plays" and could project to a 3 and D player in the pros. They knock his reluctance to shoot outside, free throw shooting (70%) and tweeneritude.

Dylan Burkhart has his scouting report up too($).

Role & Roster Rundown

Pos	Commits	Freshmen (c/o 2027)	Sophomores (c/o 2026)	Juniors (c/o 2025)	Seniors (c/o 2024
PG (2)	C.Anderson		D.McDaniel		J.Llewellyn*^
SG (2)	D.Brooks	G.Washington		N.Burnett^
Wing (2)			Y.Khayat	Ja.Howard^
PF (3)			W. Tschetter*	T.Williams^ T.Jackson*^
C (2)			T.Reed		O.Nkamhoua^
Total	2	1	4	4	2

[bold=returning starter. *=redshirt. ^=COVID redshirt.]

He's probably going to have to replace at least half of Dickinson's minutes in the post. They also couldn't get 2023 center recruit Papa Kante into school, and rising sophomore big Tarris Reed is not a guy they can expect to carry 30 mpg. Seton Hall transfer Tray Jackson is also a 4/5 tweener if you go by minutes, but more of a step-out kind of guy you don't really want to play a ton at center (as Seton Hall did last year). Nkamhoua is listed an inch shorter, but 21 pounds heavier than Jackson, and probably could have playing more center if the Vols didn't have two giants in the rotation. Michigan will probably look to have Nkamhoua split time with Reed at the five and Jackson at the four.

Between all of these transfers and more minutes for the athletic Reed, Michigan has seriously updated their defensive potential from last year. Juwan Howard had a tough time last year putting together lineups without multiple defensive holes. Jett's defense improved over the course of his true freshman season, but when he wasn't available there were times when two or three of athletically limited Joey Baker, Terrance Williams, Will Tschetter, and Dickinson were all on the court at the same time.

Defense will have to carry them. Neither Reed, nor Jackson, nor Nkamhoua will be near Dickinson's level as a scorer and distributor, and Burnett does not seem to be a fount of offense either. PG Dug McDaniel's progress from freshman to sophomore is the only offsetting factor against the loss of all three of last year's major scoring threats, unless there's some major development from Youssef Khayat or a healthy Jaelin Llewellyn.

Michigan hasn't exhausted portal options for backcourt scoring. Kentucky's Antonio Reeves is expected to hit the portal soon, and Michigan could offer the 6'5" wing a major offensive role.