It was roughly about a month ago when Michigan senior Mark Donnal announced that he would transfer from the University of Michigan following his graduation. Per the NCAA rules regarding basketball transfers, Donnal would be eligible to play immediately next season.
News broke (very) early Friday morning that Donnal decided that he was going to finish his collegiate playing career at Clemson.
Some early morning college hoops news: Mark Donnal is transferring to Clemson for his final season of eligibility.
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) April 28, 2017
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Donnal appeared in all 38 games for Michigan this past season, averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in just over 12.0 minutes of action per contest. That came one year after he saw nearly 20 minutes of playing time as a junior in 2015-16 and averaged close to 8.0 PPG.
Donnal saw his time cut down dramatically as a redshirt junior this past season due to spikes in production from both D.J. Wilson and Moe Wagner, both of whom have declared for the NBA Draft recently.
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Overall for his Michigan career, he played in 101 games spanning three seasons, averaging 5.1 PPG and 2.6 RPG. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Donnal was also a modest threat from outside, converting on 37.5 percent of his attempts from downtown (26-70 career 3PT).
THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR DONNAL
Mar 19, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines forward Mark Donnal (34) shoots over Louisville Cardinals forward Anas Mahmoud (14) during the first half in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Joseph-USA TODAY SportsDonnal ultimately chose Clemson over the likes of Vanderbilt and Creighton. He joins a Tigers team that is graduating four players, including potential NBA draftee and Clemson’s leading scorer and play-maker, Jaron Blossomgame, as well as 6-foot-10 Sidy Djitte from Senegal.
Clemson only has one returning center for next season in Legend robertin, a junior from across the pond in England. The Tigers also have 6-foot-8 junior Donte Grantham and 6-foot-9 freshman Elijah Thomas on their roster for next season. Of these three, however, only Grantham (27.8 MPG) averaged more than 20 MPG last season. This opens the door up for Donnal to not only see regular playing time, but also perhaps even start for Clemson.
ROSTER SPOTS OPEN AT MICHIGAN
With the four graduating seniors and early departures of both Wagner and Wilson, Michigan could have as many as six scholarship spots open for the 2017-18 season.
Half of those are going to their Class of 2017 commits. Michigan also received a commit from a graduate transfer in former Ohio guard Jaaron Simmons, though he has entered his name into the NBA Draft . Should he want to use his final year of college eligibility at Michigan, he has until May 24 to withdraw his name from draft consideration.
