2025-26 Team Preview: Michigan

Congrats to the Las Vegas Aces on their third WNBA title in four years, and congrats to A’ja Wilson for being an all-time great. At least two of the games were good!

On the Big Ten front, six teams from the conference were ranked in the preseason Top 25, with five more receiving votes:

These are the same Top 11 teams I came up with for these preseason rankings, with Washington, who should be ranked by the way, being the largest discrepancy. As for the third-place team in the Big Ten according to the AP… I agree!

Last Week’s Preview (Washington)

Basket Under Review Post: The Case for Player of the Year Favorites

Table of Contents

• 2024-25 Overview

• Departures

• Returnees

• Incoming Players

• Outlook

2024-25 Overview

Last season was always going to feel like the start of a new era for Michigan thanks to the build of the roster, but the Wolverines made some great improvements anyway after a slightly down 2023-24 campaign that saw just 20 wins and the lowest win percentage under head coach Kim Barnes Arico since 2014-15.

The Wolverines boosted the pace dramatically from the season before, going from last in the Big Ten at 69.5 possessions up to fifth. The results was a completely revamped attack that scored 7.5 more PPG on more efficient shooting both inside and outside the arc. The rebounding (-0.5%) and defense (+2.0 PPG) slightly suffered, but it was a strong net positive for Michigan, and it led to two more Big Ten wins and three overall added victories to the final record. Considering the Wolverines started five guards all season, that very small rebounding decline is barely an issue to note.

Michigan was a very solid all-around unit last season, but the stats show that it also wasn’t a team that particularly excelled in one main area. The defense was also more mediocre, especially on interior scoring (281st in opponent 2PT%), but the Wolverines made up for it with a Top 100 opponent 3PT% (29.3%, 78th), turnover rate (21.4%, 78th) and block rate (6.3%, 46th). Again, none of these stats were near the top of the country, but all combined to make a team without many glaring weaknesses.

If there was a key weakness, though, it was with fouls. Michigan committed 603 of them last season, 28th most in the nation. Five players averaged 2.2 fouls or more, all of which is not a particularly big surprise on one of the least experienced rosters in the country.

Here's last year’s Michigan roster, sorted by Her Hoop Stats win shares:

Departures

Michigan loses only three members from last year’s team, with Yulia Grabovskaia’s exit to Washington being the lone transfer. I discussed Grabovskaia a lot last week for the Huskies preview, but she had a strong single season in Ann Arbor, especially as a terrific offensive rebounder in limited action.

Both Jordan Hobbs and Greta Kampschroeder were starters for all 34 games last season as part of that all-guard starting five, and both had their strongest overall seasons. Hobbs was a terrific experienced player next to all the freshman talent, and came up huge with 28 points in the first round win over Iowa State. It was awesome to see her rewarded with a draft selection even if she didn’t last on a roster.

Kampschroeder took awhile to develop with the Wolverines, but was a great low-usage piece of the starting unit last season. She had her most efficient year, avoided turnovers and led the team in offensive rating when on the floor.

Returnees

Te’Yala Delfosse. Aaiyanna Dunbar. Mila Holloway. Olivia Olson. Syla Swords.

All five of those names made up Michigan’s freshman class of 2024. All five of those players are back for their sophomore seasons, a rare sight in the current college sports landscape and a great reason to believe in what the Wolverines are building right now.

Holloway, Olson and Swords each started every game they played last season and, if all goes right, will continue to be Michigan’s foundation as it looks to build something truly frightening over the next 2-3 seasons. Olson ended up winning Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year with Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge, and I believe she was Michigan’s best player by the end of last season.

Olson’s already impressive first-year numbers only get better when looking at Big Ten play, where she averaged 16.5 PPG while shooting 43.8 percent from deep. She also led the team in defensive win shares and is such a natural scorer already. She seems like the player Michigan will be able to turn to when it needs a tough bucket.

That said, I’m sure Swords will be a great option for clutch moments, too. She burst onto the scene with that 27-point debut against South Carolina, but she has natural all-around ability and feel for the game unlike almost anyone in her class. It says a lot to me that the three top scoring games of Swords’ career so far are against UCLA (30 points), the Gamecocks (27) and USC (26), three 1-seeds in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

A lot of my coverage last year focused on either Olson or Swords, but you and I both cannot be forgetting about Mila Holloway. Holloway didn’t pack the same scoring punch as her other starting freshmen, but she was the team leader in assists, shot 41.3 percent from deep in conference play and got much better at limiting turnovers as the season went on (1.8 TOPG in final 10 games). I feel like we saw a lot of what the five-stars can and will be last season, but I expect to see even more flashes of Holloway’s excellence in year two.

Both Delfosse and Dunbar were used sparingly in their first seasons, but Michigan still has a need for size, especially with Grabovskaia’s exit. Delfosse (6-3) and Dunbar (6-2) have that and were seemingly recruited for what they can bring as defensive post pieces.

Those two rising sophomores are competing with two experienced options — Ally VanTimmeren and Alyssa Crockett — for returning forward minutes. VanTimmeren is a typical rebounding big that can score inside, while Crockett has taken more shots from deep than two over the past two seasons.

Where else can rebounding be helped? How about with 5-7 guard Brooke Quarles Daniels, who continued dominating the offensive glass as she did at Oakland. She also led the team in steals per game in under 20 minutes per contest. She may not bring the perimeter shooting wanted out of a typical smaller guard (0 for 4 from three last year), Daniels is a valuable and extremely underrated asset to continue to have off the bench as a two-way spark plug.

Michigan has a track record of finding success for its players that have stayed within the program under Barnes Arico. If that were to happen this year, I’d bank on Macy Brown. She was a four-star prospect who has been used sparingly through her first two seasons. Last year she took a big leap with her efficiency (+10.5 FG%), specifically from three (+20.3 3PT%). Michigan obviously has a lot of guard talent, but the exits of Hobbs and Kampschroeder leaves an opening for Brown to see some true action this season.

Incoming Players

Michigan did excellent work with this haul of players, especially with where its roster currently sits. This team, despite all the highs it is absolutely capable of hitting this year, still should be looking at the next few seasons as well, so two high-impact transfers with multiple years of eligibility is about as much as the Wolverines could have hoped for.

Add some emphasis on high impact. Ashley Sofilkanich is a phenomenal get for the Wolverines, who desperately needed a boost inside. Sofilkanich was a star at Bucknell and excels as both an interior scorer and as a tremendous shot blocker. She was also second on the Bison in assists and led the team in offensive and defensive rebounds. I’d argue each of these skills are signifiant to plugging the holes in Michigan’s roster.

For upside, look at Kendall Dudley, a former five-star who saw limited action for a dominant UCLA team in her first season. She is a rangy wing (listed at guard for Michigan) that comes in with both Big Ten and Final Four experience. Her numbers should see a huge boost in Ann Arbor, and her versatility should play a factor in several lineups.

If retaining all of their freshmen and adding two big-name transfers wasn’t enough, how about adding three more Top 100 players to the mix? McKenzie Mathurin, Ciara Byars and Jessica Fields may not see the same quick action as the 2024 group, but all three should contribute right away.

Mathurin is the highest rated of the bunch and was a volume scorer throughout her high school career. Barnes Arico has said she can play point guard, which could factor her in with Swords and Olson as well. Byars was a Top 40 recruit at one point before an injury caused her to drop. She feels like another high-potential option, as does Fields, who brings a ton of athleticism and blocking ability to utilize.

Outlook

Projected Starters

• Mila Holloway - G

• Syla Swords - G

• Olivia Olson - G

• Kendall Dudley - G

• Ashley Sofilkanich - F

Big Ten Finish: 3rd

Last year’s Michigan team felt like it was going to be the start of something really exciting. Instead, it ended up being really exciting on its own merits. That team felt more ready than I expected, and I will not be underestimating what a second year of this roster is capable of doing.

Holloway-Swords-Olson feels pretty much locked in after starting every game last season, and I would be very surprised if Sofilkanich isn’t starting unless the Wolverines are truly committed to the five-guard lineup. The last spot feels pretty up for grabs, but I believe a lot in Dudley’s potential thanks to her size and defensive ceiling.

This starting lineup looks terrifying to deal with on its own, but Michigan feels like it also is much more suited for success top to bottom this season. There is a long list of options at forward filled with untapped potential, an exciting new guard in Mathurin, along with still budding options in Brown and Daniels. The bench may have some question marks, but only a few need to hit to make for a real dynamic force of a full roster.

The question for this Wolverines team feels simple: How much more can we expect from these talented underclassmen? What new heights can the sophomores get to? Will this new class of first-years add even more to the table? If all of those questions are met with exciting answers, I have no problems calling the Wolverines a team that could make it to the Elite Eight and beyond.

But, what I think is most exciting about Michigan is how much the floor feels raised this season, all while that ceiling still feels far in the clouds. This roster has two seniors, two, all while holding some of the most exciting talent in the country, many of which are about to be playing their second seasons together.

I think Michigan is going to be really, really good in 2025-26, and that on its own is real fun to focus on. But IF all goes well and this roster looks like it does now in a year, take hyperbole out of the dictionary for what this team can accomplish.

Photo Credit: Michigan Women’s Basketball (@umichwbball), Twitter

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