After a lengthy legal battle, Roddy Gayle Jr. is officially back with the Michigan Wolverines, as he was officially cleared for a fifth season of college basketball.
Gayle was part of a large group of athletes fighting the legal battle to qualify for the 5-for-5 rule. Gayle sat out of the exhibition win against Oregon State as a legal precaution while his legal team and a New York judge deliberated over an amendment in his injunction
, in regards to his brief stint with the Detroit Pistons in the Summer League
.
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"It's good to feel like I'm part of the team, now that I've been granted eligibility and I'm able to compete with my guys," Gayle told reporters
at Crisler Center on Thursday. "Definitely a roller coaster of emotion. … I kind of just let my agent and my lawyer handle all that stuff. I really don't understand most of it, even when this all became a thing I didn't understand the logistics of it. I just try to stay where my feet are, which is here at Michigan and try to produce and give everything I can to this program to make us better."
Gayle said the next step is to make sure he's good "moving forward" in regards to his eligibility, but barring some sort of last-minute motion before the season starts, the Wolverines are banking on having him. Head coach Mike Boynton Jr. said expects Gayle to be in the starting lineup, along with Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney, JP Estrella and Moustapha Thiam.
"I feel like I have a great opportunity to play, for my career and my development as a basketball player," Gayle, clearly relieved, said. "I still have another year of school left, so play or no play, I'm still going to be at Michigan."
Gayle also said basketball isn't the only reason he's back. It was important to him and his family that he get a degree from Michigan. In his words, he's been "playing from behind" since some of his credits from Ohio State didn't transfer over.
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"With this, being able to play and go to school at the same time, I'd say it's the perfect match," Gayle said.
The importance of Gayle's addition to this roster cannot be overstated; not only does Michigan get back a key role player from last year's national title squad, but Gayle being inserted in the starting lineup gives Michigan the luxury of depth. Younger players like Ricky Liburd and Quinn Costello can come off the bench and have slightly less expectations now.
"I think this team is very young and it's full of possibilities," Gayle said, when asked to compare this year's team to the previous two. "We're great in the back court and I feel like that's where our leadership is going to start. In previous years we had really dominant bigs and that's where our foundation began, but I think with this team, it's going to start with Elliot and Trey. Those guys have made extreme steps as far as their leadership roles. … I felt the aura that they have with this team."
Gayle coming back was always the anticipated outcome, but now that the cloud of uncertainty has cleared, the forecast for this team just got a whole lot sunnier.
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"We're excited about him having the opportunity to compete with us," said Boynton. "We think what he brings is invaluable because of his experience, but also from a skill standpoint on the perimeter. He'll be a great addition. Obviously he's been with us most of the summer, so it's not like a new thing for our team, but we're just excited to see him out there on Sunday against Houston."
Speaking of Houston, Michigan plays one of the most ferocious defenses in the country on Sunday, with its final exhibition game taking place at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
"We know they are going to bring a tremendous amount of physicality to the game and it's going to test where we are from that standpoint, so looking forward to it," Boynton said.
Boynton, assistant coaches and the players all spoke today at the program's media day; stick with Maize n Brew for more articles from that in the coming days.
