Michigan basketball nabs Alabama sharpshooter Sam Walters from transfer portal
For the second time on Monday and fifth time in three days, Michigan basketball landed one of its targets from the transfer portal.
Sam Walters, a 6-foot-8, 198-pound sophomore small forward from Alabama, pledged to join the Wolverines just hours after former Ohio State shooting guard Roddy Gayle Jr. made the same decision.
Those announcements come on the heels of former Auburn point guard Tre Donaldson, All-Ivy League center Danny Wolf (Yale), and North Texas point guard Rubin Jones all committing to Dusty May's program since Saturday.
Prior to the flurry of portal commitments, the first actual verbal commit of the May era was Justin Pippen, a four-star senior from Sierra Canyon, who made his choice public on Friday evening. The son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen officially signed with the program Monday afternoon.
Walters, rated as a four-star transfer prospect by 247 Sports, played 37 games for the Crimson Tide as a freshman under former Romulus High School coach Nate Oats; Walters averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game on 42.7% shooting.
Although he's not exclusively a 3-point specialist — 99 of his 150 field goal attempts last season were from behind the long line — Walters can knock it down with the best of them. He shot 39.4% (39-for-99) on 3-pointers last season.
Walters has three years of eligibility remaining.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball adds Alabama wing Sam Walters from transfer portal