INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 06: Aday Mara #15 of the Michigan Wolverines cuts the net after defeating the UConn Huskies in the National Championship of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 06, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images

We’ve entered the top-10 of our offseason series, ranking the top players to come through the Michigan Wolverines basketball since 1989. This one is bittersweet, as it coincides with the recent departure of Dusty May to the Dallas Mavericks as the pinnacle of the newfound offensive system that swept college basketball in a run to the national championship. A player who was on the bench in conference a season before, becoming one of the top players in the country and a lottery pick in the NBA Draft. The one and only, Aday Mara.

A staple of May’s schemes was having versatile big men. It started with the OG, Vlad Goldin, who made the transition to Ann Arbor from FAU with significant success in his one Big Ten season. But he also recruited Danny Wolf, a star for Yale and a ball-dominant 7-footer who excelled as a passer and ball-handler on the pick-and-roll with Goldin.

Advertisement

That success led to immediate interest in the offseason of 2025 for additional 7-foot transfers who thought they were being underutilized at their current school, and Mara was the prime example of that. Mara had two seasons at UCLA, where he played just 13 minutes per game as a sophomore. May and the Michigan coaching staff saw more, and got him to transfer to Ann Arbor.

Even when Michigan also recruited Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson, the Wolverines needed to find a way for all three to get significant minutes. In September, Jon Rothstein reported the three future champions could share the court in the starting lineup.

It was clear Mara was going to be a much improved player, even if the three-big lineup didn’t work. He posted a double-double in three of the Wolverines’ first four games, including an overtime win vs Wake Forest where he had 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks while shooting 8-of-11 from the field.

Advertisement

Mara became the defensive anchor of this team. He posted 17 games where he had at least three blocks, finishing as the Big Ten’s leader and No. 3 in the country in blocked shots, leading the conference in defensive rating and defensive box plus/minus, and winning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Just to put into perspective how dominant he was, he blocked 12 percent of the shots he faced this season, leading the country.

What really impressed throughout the season, though, was his development on the offensive side of the ball. He was the most efficient scorer in the Big Ten, making 66.8 percent of his shots. But what really surprised was his ability to facilitate. With his back to the basket, Mara was a maestro at navigating double teams and finding open teammates or cutters.

Perhaps the most important improvement throughout the season, though, was his conversion rate from the free throw line. Through the first 16 games, Mara was just a 41.3 percent shooter from the charity stripe. It made him almost unplayable at the end of games as the Wolverines struggled from the line, and in some scenarios, allowed teams back into games.

Advertisement

But Mara locked in for the second half of the season after the loss to Wisconsin. For the rest of the way, he was a 67.9 percent free throw shooter, including 76.2 percent in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. He almost doubled his efficiency from the line in the season’s most crucial performances.

Arguably his best performance in a Michigan uniform came in the Final Four. It was supposed to be one of the best games in the history of college basketball — 1-seed Michigan vs 1-seed Arizona, two of the five best teams in the history of KenPom. But the Wolverines dominated en route to the National Championship in part because of Mara. Against one of the best front courts in college basketball, Mara had 26 points and nine rebounds while going 11-for-16 from the field.

Mara went from a bench player at UCLA to All-NCAA Tournament performer, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten third-team (which was ridiculous), a lottery pick in the NBA Draft and a national champion in his lone season in Ann Arbor. This is a well deserved top-10 spot in these rankings, and a legend that won’t be forgotten any time soon.