Michigan basketball announces details of European trip this summer

The defending national champion Michigan Wolverines are heading on a European summer vacation.

The program and head coach Dusty May announced Monday afternoon that the 2026-27 Wolverines will head to Lithuania and Croatia in August for a 9-day trip that includes three exhibition games, along with “cultural and team-building activities” during the trek.

The trip, funded by private donors through the Michigan athletic department, will be the fourth the program has taken in recent years. It went to Belgium in 2010, Italy in 2024, Spain in 2018 and France/Greece in 2022. The trip gives the team extra preseason practices and is alloted every four years to programs.

“Any time you can get a group together in the summer and actually play games, it’s huge,” said May. “This trip gives us the chance to compete, learn, and spend time together before starting the fall semester. On top of that, they’ll get to experience basketball in a different part of the world, which is pretty special.”

The schedule sent by Michigan reads:
Thursday, Aug. 21: Arrive in Lithuania
Friday, Aug. 22: Practice/Open Day in Lithuania
Saturday, Aug. 23: Game #1 vs. Lithuania Men’s National Team
Sunday, Aug. 24: Game #2 vs. Lithuania B Team
Monday, Aug. 25: Travel to Croatia
Tuesday, Aug. 26: Practice/Open Day
Wednesday, Aug. 27: Game #3 vs. Mega Superbet (Serbia)
Thursday, Aug. 28: Open Day
Friday, Aug. 29: Return to the United States

Further information will be available at a later date.

Michigan’s team in 2026-27 will take on a different look, with 3 transfers and 6 freshmen joining the program after its 37-3 national title run this year. Key returnees include point guard Elliot Cadeau, who won the Most Outstanding Player Award at the Final Four in Indianapolis, and sophomore Trey McKenney, who was a key cog off the bench and is expected to move into a starting role. He hit a late three in the national title win over UConn that helped seal the program’s first national title since 1989.

Michigan will add another good transfer portal haul to the roster with the additions of Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati), JP Estrella (Tennessee) and Jalen Reed (LSU), helping reshape the program’s frontcourt. The 2026 recruiting class is headlined by five-star Brandon McCoy, Rivals’ No. 3 overall prospect, along with two other top-100 prospects in forward Quinn Costello (No. 40 overall) and guard Joseph Hartman (No. 92). The prep class ranks No. 6 in the country and No. 2 in the Big Ten.