Michigan to play Florida in 2023 Jumpman Invitational

The Michigan Wolverines will be returning to the Jumpman Invitational in 2023 for the second installment of the event. According to CBS Sports Insider Jon Rothstein, the Wolverines will face the Florida Gators next season in Charlotte. Michigan last played Florida in the Second Round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, in which the Wolverines won 64-49.

In the inaugural Jumpan Invitational last season, Florida lost to Oklahoma 62-53 and the Wolverines fell to North Carolina 80-76. The Gators finished the year 16-17 in head coach Todd Golden’s first season, and the Wolverines fell massively short of expectations finishing a disappointing 18-16.

The expectations will not be nearly as lofty next season due to the large number of questions without answers right now surrounding the Michigan basketball team. Will the coaching staff remain intact? Who else will the Wolverines add from the transfer portal? Who else will leave via the transfer portal?

As it stands right now, the Wolverines will be without four major contributors from last year’s team: Jett Howard, Kobe Bufkin, Joey Baker, and Hunter Dickinson. The former three are all exploring their professional options, while Dickinson has declared interest in entering the transfer portal. However, since Dickinson has not yet committed to another program, the senior center could still return for the Wolverines.

Head coach Juwan Howard has been active in the transfer portal himself, bringing in former North Carolina guard Caleb Love, Alabama guard Nimari Burnett, and Seton Hall forward Tray Jackson. The Wolverines are also adding two freshmen in George Washington III and Papa Kante, as well as welcoming back Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn, who missed most of the season with an injury.

Michigan’s basketball schedule is largely unknown for the upcoming season, but the Wolverines are scheduled to participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament —a tournament the team won in 2019 in Howard’s first season as head coach— as well as the Jumpman Invitational. North Carolina, Villanova, Arkansas, Memphis, Texas Tech, Stanford and Northern Iowa are all among the other participants in the Battle 4 Atlantis.