Roddy Gayle Jr. to Michigan Basketball Isn't Out of the Picture Yet

The Wolverines might be looking at other options in the transfer portal, but don't count out Gayle Jr. yet.

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When the 2022 recruiting class was granted a class-wide injunction, allowing players to gain a fifth year of eligibility following the NCAA's new 5-for-5 rule, fans were hopeful Michigan basketball was going to add to its roster.

And the first player who came to mind was Roddy Gayle Jr., who played two seasons at Ohio State before finishing his final two seasons with the Wolverines. According to reports, both Gayle Jr. and Mike Boynton Jr. had a mutual interest in a reunion.

But since then, talks have gone silent. And on Tuesday, we noted that the Wolverines were in contact with Nebraska transfer Jamarques Lawrence, who is also a fifth-year player.

However, on Tuesday, Boynton Jr. didn't dismiss adding Gayle Jr. to the roster. In fact, he wants him back if that's what Gayle Jr. wants.

"I mean, I think I can talk about him because we coached him for two years, but obviously under these circumstances, I don't know exactly what it all means," Boynton Jr. said on Tuesday. "If there's an opportunity for Roddy to be back, and he wants to be back, we certainly will have him back."

The hurdles of adding Gayle Jr.

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Even with the injunction passing, there are likely hurdles that would need to be cleared. One is that Gayle Jr. signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Detroit Pistons and played in the NBA Summer League. But at that time, he had no idea he could potentially come back to Ann Arbor for another season.

But in Boynton Jr.'s eyes, that shouldn't be allowed to hold off Gayle Jr. making the decision to come back to college basketball — if that's what he wants.

"I think all of it's kind of a hurdle, right," asked Boynton Jr. "Just the fact that he technically exhausted his eligibility first, so in his mind, there's not even really a thought of it, so you kind of operate with the information you have at the time.

"So I think, in fairness to the kid, if he had known that and he wanted to come back, maybe he would have considered that before playing in the summer league, but that wasn't the information at the time, and so I would hope that if the rules had changed, then they would say, he didn't do anything wrong per se, this wasn't an option in that way."

Adding to the roster is a possibility regardless

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Michigan would love to add Gayle Jr. back into the fold. He provides experience and a championship mindset. Gayle Jr. plays defense and has the ability to handle the basketball when Elliot Cadeau needs a break.

But even if the Wolverines can't get Gayle Jr. back, Boynton Jr. is open to adding any player that will improve Michigan's roster.

"Yeah, I mean, we always will look for opportunities to improve where we can, from a roster standpoint, whenever that's an opportunity," said Boynton Jr. "If there's somebody that's going to add value, obviously this is a more unique circumstance than we've ever been presented with before because of all the court cases, but there's no doubt that we're certainly monitoring all these things, and if there's an opportunity to add somebody, we certainly will."

The Wolverines have already been in contact with the 6'3" Nebraska transfer, who started every game this past season for the Huskers. But beyond Lawrence and Gayle Jr., if there are new names who emerge, expect the Wolverines to try to get involved if it would make them a more complete team.