Michigan Adds Another Tower to the Title Defense, Lands 7’2″ Transfer Moustapha Thiam

Michigan added another major frontcourt piece Friday when Cincinnati transfer center Moustapha Thiam committed to the Wolverines, giving Dusty May and the reigning national champions one of the top remaining big men in the transfer portal. Thiam, a 7-foot-2 sophomore, told ESPN he was headed to Ann Arbor after visiting Michigan earlier this week.

The move matters because Thiam was not just another developmental body in the portal. He was one of the most sought-after centers left on the board, ranked No. 11 overall in ESPN’s transfer rankings and listed by 247Sports as the No. 13 overall transfer and the No. 3 center available. Michigan beat out strong interest that included programs such as St. John’s, Michigan State, UConn and Kansas.

Thiam arrives after a strong 2025-26 season at Cincinnati in which he averaged 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 52.5% from the field. He earned All-Big 12 honorable mention recognition and recorded nine double-doubles, building the kind of profile that made him one of the most attractive frontcourt players in the portal.

His season also included some performances that made it easy to understand why major programs came calling. Thiam scored 28 points at Kansas, and he also had a 15-point showing in an exhibition against Michigan before ever becoming a transfer target for the Wolverines. For a staff trying to keep a championship roster loaded with size and skill, that kind of production was always going to get attention.

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There is also a larger roster angle here for Michigan. Thiam gives the Wolverines another major option in the frontcourt as the program continues building around its title-winning core. He joins Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella as another portal addition, and his commitment comes as Michigan keeps working to maintain one of the biggest and deepest front lines in college basketball.

What makes Thiam especially interesting is that he still looks like a player with more room to grow. At 7-foot-2 and 250 pounds, he gives Michigan obvious rim protection and rebounding, but the appeal is not limited to just standing near the basket and being tall. He has shown offensive promise, enough mobility to matter in modern systems, and the type of upside that makes coaches believe the best version of the player is still coming.

His path has also moved quickly. Thiam is originally from Dakar, Senegal, and Michigan will become his third college stop in three years after previous time at UCF and Cincinnati. This latest move followed the firing of Cincinnati coach Wes Miller, which helped push another impact player into the portal and gave Michigan the opening it needed.

For Dusty May, the commitment is another reminder that Michigan is not acting like a program satisfied with one banner. The Wolverines have been aggressive in roster construction since winning the national title, and adding a player of Thiam’s size, production and ceiling only strengthens the impression that Michigan intends to stay in the center of the championship conversation instead of fading into the usual post-title roster drift.

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This is the kind of portal addition that changes how people look at a defending champion. Michigan did not just grab depth. It grabbed one of the better available centers in the country, a player with real production in a power conference and enough upside to become even more dangerous in a stronger system. Thiam gives the Wolverines another huge body, another proven scorer, and another reason the rest of college basketball is going to have to keep staring at Ann Arbor when talking about who still looks built for April.

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