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Michigan basketball adds transfer Kenny Noland, All-Ivy League player
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- Michigan basketball adds transfer Kenny Noland, All-Ivy League player
Michigan basketball has added to its backcourt.
The Wolverines have signed Kenny Noland, a fifth-year guard who spent the past four seasons at Columbia, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity, given the program has not made the announcement.
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Noland, who spent the past four years at Columbia, averaged a team-best 17.1 points per game in 2025-26 (second best in the Ivy League) to go with 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The Wolverines were in need of a backup point guard after the departure of L.J. Cason (who transferred to Miami ) and this signing fits the need.
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Nov 10, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; Columbia Lions guard Kenny Noland (2) drives to the basket against UConn Huskies guard Solo Ball (1) and center Eric Reibe (12) in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Other options for the role are sophomore Trey McKenney and freshman Brandon McCoy Jr., but both are naturally off-ball players.
Noland led the Lions in assists, field goals, three-pointers, free throws and minutes per game as a senior. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has played in 111 career games with 57 starts, and was one of the best free throw shooters in the nation last season, making 92.1% of his attempts (70 of 76).
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Noland was named the Ivy League Player of the Week three times in 2025-26 and finished as an All-Ivy League Second Team member.
He becomes the 14th scholarship player on U-M's roster, with one still available.
Former U-M guard Roddy Gayle Jr., who had seemingly exhausted his eligibility until the NCAA passed its five-for-five rule this summer, could be a potential addition for the final spot. Coach Mike Boynton Jr. said earlier this week, it's certainly an option.
"If there's an opportunity for Roddy to be back and he wants to be back, we certainly will have him back," he said. "In his mind, there's not even really a thought of [being able to return before the ruling], so you operate with the information you have at the time. In fairness to the kid, if he had known that and wanted to come back, maybe he would've considered that before playing in Summer League. But that wasn't the information at the time, and I would hope that if the rules are changed, they would say, 'He didn't do anything wrong per se — this wasn't an option, and now it is.'
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"We'll monitor it, and if it's an option, we'll certainly explore it."
Michigan is scheduled to leave on Thursday, Aug. 20 for a 10-day trip to Lithuania and Croatia to play overseas teams in three exhibition games.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball adds transfer Kenny Noland, All-Ivy League player
