Roddy Gayle Jr. finally ends 'double agent' moniker for Michigan basketball

DENVER − Yes, Roddy Gayle Jr. kept the receipts.

He saw what his former fanbase, Ohio State, said about him in the spring and summer, when he transferred to Michigan basketball. Then, he saw what U-M fans said about him for much of the past three months as his struggles mounted.

It wasn't the year Gayle Jr. had in mind. He entered Saturday shooting 20.3% from 3-point range, which included an extended 3-for-35 slump in 2025. But that all changed here at Ball Arena when Gayle, U-M's sixth man, caught fire in the second half, scoring 12 consecutive U-M points to propel his Wolverines to a 91-79 victory over Texas A&M to advance to the Sweet 16.

Was Gayle fueled by the doubt?

"Definitely," he said. "I feel like social media's been all over the place, I feel like every comment I had — they called me a double agent for choosing Michigan after going to Ohio State. I feel like I beat those allegations as of recent. So it's just an exciting feeling to put everything in the past."

Gayle finished with a personal-best-at-Michigan 26 points — he'd only scored more than 17 once, back in November — on 7-for-14 shooting. But most importantly, he was 4-for-6 on 3s and 8-for-8 at the free throw line, all while grabbing four rebounds and locking down the Aggies' backcourt.

"He just continues to stick with it," teammate Will Tschetter said. "He's in the gym every day, getting those 3s up, getting those reps. So for him to find that confidence, he only needs one or two to go in and that rim starts opening up."

Gayle said the rim looked "big as it ever looked" on Saturday, even though it took him a little to get going.

His first score of the game was a put-back dunk, when he rose over two A&M defenders and threw down a slam. On the next possession, he caught an inside-out 3 and drilled it from the left wing to knot the game at 31.

Gayle's next make was a floater when U-M was down 10 and needed points. Then, when U-M was down 10 again with less than 14 minutes to play, he hit another 3 from the left wing to keep the Wolverines within striking distance.

"I'm most happy because he deserves it," head coach Dusty May said. "To see his teammates never waver. Obviously he had a phenomenal game tonight, but when he just had a good, solid game, they were extremely happy because of how much they believed in him and how much they knew we needed him if we were going to do something like this."

After another 10-point deficit, as the Wolverines prepared to make their final push, Gayle hit a pair from the line to make it a two-point game, then after the Aggies restored their lead to six, he hit a massive 3 from the right corner.

On the next possession, he caught the ball on the left wing, took an aggressive drive to the paint and finished at the rack. The junior later hit another open 3 from the left wing to pull within one, before a pair of free throws gave Michigan a lead it never relinquished.

Gayle afterwards said this was, "by far," the best basketball game of his life, given the magnitude of the moment.

"This season's been a roller coaster of emotions for me," Gayle said. "A ton of ups and downs. But something coach May told me is how would I approach it? The belief he had all season, especially my teammates — Tre (Donaldson), Danny (Wolf), Vlad (Goldin), they were always encouraging me."

Earlier this week, a performance like this seemed entirely out of the question.

Not only because Gayle had scored more than 12 points in a game just once in 19 tries, but because of an injury. Gayle left the Big Ten tournament with a left hamstring strain and told reporters Saturday he was questionable for the NCAA tournament opener against UC San Diego.

Then, he thought about the whole season again and dug deep.

"It felt pretty tight leading up to the game," Gayle said Thursday after U-M's first-round win. "But at the bare minimum, this is March, some of these guys' last times playing college basketball, so I feel like I have to give my mind, body and soul to the game. Luckily, I was rewarded."

On Saturday, Gayle made four free throws in the final minute as Michigan put the closing touches on its sixth consecutive second-round win, sending the Wolverines to Atlanta and the Sweet 16.

For a player who'd never been in the NCAA tournament, the moment was more than he could process.

All the vitriol, all the doubt, silenced in moments. It's a dream come true. But Gayle still needs to process it.

"Not yet, I haven't been able to relax and realize what we just did," Gayle said with a smile. "But this is something we all came together for in the summer. We checked one box as far as a Big Ten (tournament) championship and now we're one step closer to checking another box."

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.