Oscar Goodman returning to Michigan Basketball for 2026-27 season

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 25: Oscar Goodman #5 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates after his dunk against the Auburn Tigers during the second half of a Players Era Championship basketball tournament game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on November 25, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Michigan forward Oscar Goodman announced on the Kiwi Hoopers podcast on Tuesday he is returning to the program for his redshirt sophomore season.

The 6-foot-7, 235-pound New Zealander joined the team in Jan. 2025, enrolling early while joining the team from the NBA Global Academy. He redshirted in 2024-25 before playing a key reserve role on the national championship team in 2025-26. Goodman appeared in 16 games, averaging 1.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.4 minutes per contest.

“I’m coming back to Michigan,” Goodman said on the podcast. “…I’m just taking a little bit of time off right now. I’m probably going to start working out in the next day or two, get back into that. And then I’m coming home at the end of this month, start of May. I’ll be home for a bit, just see my family, see my mates. And then I’ll come back over (to Michigan) for June workouts, summer workouts and just get ready to try to win back-to-back national championships.”

Goodman did not shy away from opportunities in his role with the team this season, making 77.8 percent of his shots at the rim, mostly during garbage time of Michigan victories. He had a few highlight dunks, including a poster dunk against Auburn in the Player’s Era Tournament.

Goodman noted that going up against Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. helped his game this past season and that he “definitely got a lot better” because of that.

“But it was challenging at first. I’ve never been blocked so much before in my life,” Goodman said. “…In my position, I was the youngest. A bunch of the guys had already played four years of college ahead of me, so they had that experience on me, and Morez is just a dawg. He plays so hard, and I’ve kind of stolen that from him in a way. I’m just trying to get that into my game of just going 100 percent all the time. But the skill factor of Yaxel and ‘Rez and Aday is NBA level.”

Goodman could easily play regular bench minutes next season, especially considering the most notable departure for him, Will Tschetter, is out of eligibility and heading to Australia to play in the NBL1 West. Tschetter’s 13.7 minutes per game will need to be spread elsewhere, giving Goodman an opportunity to take over that role.

With Goodman officially back, he joins guards Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney as the key returners for the 2026-27 season.