Michigan Friday: Do You Know Malick?

With Ricky's signing yesterday we expected Michigan's 2025 class to be wrapped up.  It seems German big man Malick Kordel has enrolled at Michigan.  He has yet to be announced by the Team as an official member of the Wolverine Basketball Program.  Many times there are paperwork issues with overseas players enrolling. 

From UMHoops:

Kordel turned 21 in March, stands at 7-foot-1, 253 pounds, and plays with the Frankfurt Skyliners junior team in Germany’s third-tier league.

The 7-foot big man picked Michigan over Xavier, Villanova, Iowa, and Butler. He joins Trey McKenney, Winters Grady, Ricky Liburd, and Oscar Goodman (who enrolled early in January) in Michigan’s 2025 recruiting class.

Basics & Info

Kordel made his Bundesliga debut this season with the Skyliners, playing 3 minutes in a loss, but primarily plays with the junior squad that participates in German ProB, the third-tier of German basketball.

At that level, he’s averaging 11.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 23.7 minutes per game, shooting 71% from the field and 50% from the line.

Happy Father's Day and enjoy the US Open! 

Michigan Thursday: Do You Know Ricky?

Michigan Basketball had a very quiet signing on Wednesday, Florida's Ricky Liburd was added to the 2025 recruiting class.  Ricky is a 3-star 6'6 forward from Ft. Lauderdale who originally signed an LOI with Coastal Carolina before he was able to get out of it.  South Florida is clearly Dusty's area and he heard about the 6'6 forward wanting to look for other options and jumped at the opportunity to bring him to Ann Arbor.  Ricky committed also quietly to Michigan on May 16th and signed yesterday. 

Dusty told Defend the Block the following:

"This was a situation where he developed. He was -- I don't want to say a late developer, but he was kind of late on the scene as he was recruited mostly by Ivy Leagues and good mid-majors in the early signing period," May said. "We had heard rumors that he was getting out of his [Letter of Intent with Coastal Carolina], and there was a couple other high-level schools that were going to go in to see him.

"We've had trouble getting long, rangy wings — the 3-and-D type wings. There's not a lot of them out there," May said. "It's why the NBA is constantly looking for them as well.

"He has skill. He has shooting ability. He's a hard worker. From an intangible standpoint, he's just someone that we felt like could really develop, especially if he's patient this year and learning from these older guys who play the game at a high level."

• For golf fans, enjoy the US Open this weekend.  Oakmont looks to be one of toughest courses in America.  I think this and Detroit's metro Oakland Hills might be the 2 toughest major courses in the country. 

• ESPN Gameday for Corso last game will head to Texas @ OSU which will be shown on Fox vs. Alabama @ FSU where Corso attended. 

Wolverine Wednesday: This Kid Looks Like Mason Graham!

2026 DT Alister Vallejo out of Texas looks like the 2025 NFL's #5 Draft Pick Mason Graham out of Michigan.  He is 6'3 and 310 pounds already and is wrecking ball on the defensive line.  Michigan beat out ND and Kansas for his services.   

Being compared to Mason is not fair for the soon to be high school senior but Alister looks like he could be Mason's brother and does have a wrestling background.  Similar to Mason, he is under rated at 3 stars in the composite (a 4-star to 24/7) but could be one of those guys that gets a huge bump by the services this summer.  

Michigan which has gotten off to a slower start in the 2026 class and had a class ranked in the 40's last week, now with 2 quick commits is #31 on 24/7.   That is a long way from a top 10 class but Michigan was in a similar position last summer before it got rolling on the recruiting trail. 

• Speaking of wrestlers, Jim has given a former Michigan wrestler Mason Paris a shot to make the LA Chargers as a FB.  Mason won the wrestler of the year award in 2023 at Michigan and hasn't played football since high school. "First time on the football field since high school," Paris wrote on social media. "Grateful for this experience and the exact reset I needed."  

• Speaking of Harbaugh, it seems he has had some health procedures during the off season.  He had his hip replaced and a cardiac ablation for atrial fibrillation.

• Coach Prime also seems to being dealing with a health issue and not with the team currently. 

• Former Detroit Lions QB Dan Orlovsky has decided not to replace former Detroit Lions QB Gary Danielson on CBS Big Ten Games and will stay with ESPN. 

Michigan Tuesday: Michigan Delivers a DE and Another One on the Way?

Michigan Football received a commit from 2026 4-star DE McHale Blade out of Chicago who sounds like a new detective cop show on CBS.  "You know better then to pull a Blade on Detective Blade!"

Blade is a 6'4 and 245 pound edge who Michigan beat out ND for his services.  He is a 4-star to all the services and a top 200 player.  When your an elite football player in Chicago and want to go to a top tier program your family can drive to, its pretty much ND or Michigan.  

Blades other offers included:  Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M, USC, Miami, Tenn, Ole Miss, and many more.  

Welcome big man and I look forward to watching you sack QB's for years to come! 

Coach Moore also sent out another 👀 this morning which means another commit is coming. 

The best prediction for those eyes is 3-star 2026 DL Alister Vallejo who is expected to announce his college commitment today. His final 3 are Michigan, ND and Kansas.

Coach Lou Esposito is putting in the work and a great hire!

Love these commitments but we could use a few more on the offensive side of the ball, maybe a WR?  I know we ran the ball like Navy last season, but we now have the #1 QB in the country.

• Michigan is expected to get a visit from a backup QB in Jake Garcia from ECU who has been on a few teams and played last season.  Jake was on Miami for 2 years and ECU last year.  I also think he had a quick stop at Missouri.  At ECU last season, he completed 60% of his passes, threw 8 TD's and 12 picks.  He would be a break glass in case of emergency type of guy. He is expected to be on campus today. 

• Michigan WR target Zion Robinson has cancelled his official visit to TCU