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Holding Firm
Michigan continues to retain its core after Dusty May's departure. Plus: Team USA U17 dominated the FIBA World Cup, Purdue landed another highly-touted point guard, and more.
Good morning! Hope everyone had a safe and relaxing 4th of July weekend. Let’s get to the news.
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1. Michigan continues to retain top talent
It’s been exactly two weeks since the news broke that Dusty May would be leaving Michigan for the Dallas Mavericks.
In that time, the school has named Mike Boynton its interim head coach, and while he’s continued pushing to remove the interim tag, Boynton’s also had to keep Michigan’s roster intact for next season.
So far, so good.
Throughout the weekend, several Wolverines announced their intentions to stay, including former Tennessee big man JP Estrella, former LSU forward Jalen Reed, five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr., four star forward Lincoln Cosby and four-star shooting guard Joseph Hartman.
Michigan now has its entire projected starting five set to return, as Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney and Moustapha Thiam already announced they would be back in Ann Arbor.
The players yet to have an official announcement include Quinn Costello, LJ Cason, Ricky Liburd, Oscar Goodman, Marcus Moller and Malachi Brown.
At this point, it’d be surprising if anyone decided to leave. The portal window doesn’t officially open until 31 days after Dusty May's departure, and most rosters across the country are set.
Michigan is also widely considered to have a top five roster next season. Any way you slice it, it was a huge weekend for Boynton as he works to keep the Wolverines among the national title contenders.
2. Standouts from the FIBA U17 World Cup
The idea that the rest of the world has caught up with the United States in basketball has been a talking point over the past few years, especially with players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic taking the NBA by storm.
But at the youth level, Team USA continues to set the standard.
The program capped off another dominant run at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey with a 107-81 win over Serbia on Sunday. It’s Team USA's eighth gold medal since the tournament debuted in 2010, and the Americans remain a perfect 58-0 all-time in the event.
But who were the biggest standouts this year? Here's a look at the all-star five and what made each player a top performer:

