Elliot Cadeau helped the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines win their first college basketball national championship since 1989, taking down Alex Karaban and the No. 2 seed UConn Huskies 69-63. Cadeau was the best player throughout March Madness, taking home the 2026 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award.
While star forward Yaxel Lendeborg may have been Michigan's best player throughout most of the 2025-26 season, Cadeau emerged as one of Dusty May's most reliable options in his first year in Ann Arbor. The former UNC guard played in all 40 games, averaging 10.5 points on 41.1% shooting and a team-high 5.8 assists per game. But with Lendeborg finishing his senior season and heading to the NBA, the Wolverines had some rebuilding to do. And they are off to a good start.
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J.P. Estrella, a 6-foot-11 forward out of Brewster Academy (South Portland, Maine), was a four-star prospect in the class of 2023 (247Sports). He ranked as the 76th-best overall recruit in his class, along with the 11th-best center and the third-best from the state of Maine.
Estrella spent his first three college basketball seasons with the Tennessee Volunteers, redshirting during 2024-25 after dealing with injuries. This season, he averaged 10.0 points on 59.6% shooting and 5.4 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game, and can knock down the deep ball at times, shooting 40% from 3-point range. However, after Tennessee lost to Michigan in the Elite Eight, Estrella decided it was time for a change, entering his name into the NCAA transfer portal.
And on Thursday, it was revealed that Estrella has made a decision on his basketball future, committing to Michigan and joining Cadeau on the team for the 2026-27 season.
"NEWS: Tennessee big-man J.P. Estrella has committed to Michigan, he tells ESPN, delivering the Wolverines one of the most coveted big-men in the portal," ESPN's Pete Thamel wrote on Instagram. "He continues the lineage of high-end transfer big men at Michigan, as they played an outsized line-up to win the national title."
Cadeau quickly took notice of the commitment, sending a short message to Estrella in the comments: "say datttt."
While Michigan gained a player from the transfer portal in Estrella, they also lost one after winning the title, as guard Grady Winters is set to head elsewhere.
