Michigan reaches out to Harvard grad transfer Chris Ledlum

It’s been a busy week for Michigan Wolverines’ basketball program, and the roster is as flexible as ever. Juwan Howard has quite a bit of work to do to form his team into one that can compete in a deep Big Ten Conference, following the departures of Hunter Dickinson, Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard.

The work in the portal has been key during Howard’s, and it looks like the Wolverines’ eyes have turned to Harvard grad transfer forward Chris Ledlum.

According to the report, the Wolverines will be meeting him via Zoom in just a couple days. But the key to anything developing here is if he gets on campus for a visit. He reportedly has visits already set up for Tennessee and Indiana, so Michigan will have to work quickly.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder scored 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season while shooting 47.3% from the field. Much of his scoring comes from inside of the paint, driving to the basket with his large frame coming downhill. He’ll also post up on the interior when he gets switched off on a smaller guard to take advantage of mismatches, and he finishes well at the rim.

None of the three top scorers will be returning for Michigan, and it could get even worse depending on how things shake out with Joey Baker applying for a sixth season. The Wolverines could use a guy with experience putting the ball in the bucket like Ledlum. He also has two seasons of eligibility left since the Ivy League did not perform in 2020 due to COVID, so that is an added plus.

The problem is if Ledlum’s game will translate to the Big Ten level. He’ll be facing bigger, faster and stronger guys at his position and he won’t be able to bully players as easily. Plus, he can’t stretch the floor, which has been a major problem at Michigan the last few seasons. He shot just 29.4% from deep last year despite almost five attempts per game.

Still, it makes sense why Howard and the team are so intrigued by Ledlum. He’s a veteran, a leader and a guy with multiple years of eligibility remaining. That’s not easy to find, and the Wolverines are suddenly extremely short at all three.

Here are some of Ledlum’s highlights from his career at Harvard.