Michigan Basketball Lands Mysterious 7-Foot German Phenom—Could He Be the Next Big Star?

Michigan basketball is bracing for one last major addition as the 2025-26 season edges closer. The Wolverines are about to welcome Malick Kordel, a towering 7-foot center from Germany, whose enrollment hiccup has finally cleared — a labyrinthine process for any international student aiming to make it stateside. This guy’s been on Michigan’s radar for months, drawing interest from big-name programs across the nation, but it’s Dusty May’s squad that secured the prize. Kordel’s journey from Frankfurt to Ann Arbor is more than just a transfer; it’s a strategic move that beefs up a frontcourt already stacked with talent like Yaxel Lendebrog and Morez Johnson. While breaking into the starting lineup won’t be a walk in the park, his potential ceiling has fans buzzing about what he could bring to the table. So, if you’re tracking the next phase of Michigan hoops, this final piece slots in perfectly to an already dynamic puzzle. LEARN MORE

Kordel, who visited Ann Arbor last winter during the 2024-25 season, chose U-M over a host of other programs like Butler, Villanova, Iowa and Xavier. The center spent last year playing in Germany where he averaged 11.3 points and 7.9 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game with the Frankfurt Skyliners Junior.The Michigan basketball program has one final move to make in advance of the 2025-26 season. It will be a tall task for Kordell to crack the lineup in year one with a frontcourt that includes the nation’s No. 1 transfer product Yaxel Lendebrog, a pair of former top-35 recruits in Morez Johnson (Illinois) and Aday Mara (UCLA) as well as team leader and the longest tenured Wolverine, Will Tschetter.Still, he’s a prospect with a high ceiling that a number of big time programs were interested in that  Michigan’s staff was yet again able to reel in.

Malick Kordel, a 7-foot big man prospect from Germany, is poised to join the Wolverines shortly, a program source confirmed to the Free Press anonymously as the individual was not permitted to comment on the move publicly.Alas, the T’s have been crossed and the I’s dotted which paves the way for Dusty May and company to add another 7-foot prospect to their already loaded front court.Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

Kordel’s name has popped up in the Michigan student directory, indicating his enrollment at the university — which was the major hiccup.

Kordell will make five freshmen in the Class of 2025 for the Wolverines, as he joins McDonald’s All-American Trey McKinney, four stars Winters Grady and Oscar Goodman and three star wing Patrick Liburd.The Free Press was told Kordell and U-M have been locked in together for months at this point, the final and only hangup in the situation was getting cleared by admissions — something that is hard enough to do as an American student, much less one coming from another country with a separate curriculum and requirements.