(JTA) — As the first round of March Madness begins in earnest on Thursday, one of the most attention-catching players has been the University of Michigan’s 7-foot star Danny Wolf.
He’s an elite player who, barring a twist, is expected by many to be a first-round pick in this June’s NBA Draft. Rarer, perhaps, than his stats is his identity as a dual American-Israeli citizen who wears his Jewish identity proudly on his sleeve — and has experienced antisemitism on the court.
“I would hear it growing up, that noise about me being Jewish and (so) you don’t expect much from me as a basketball player,” Wolf told the Jewish author Mitch Albom for a column in the Detroit Free Press. “When I was younger, I kind of looked at (being Jewish) as an opportunity to prove myself.”
Judaism has always been a big part of Wolf’s life. He attended Jewish day school until fifth grade, keeps kosher and had his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
“The most beautiful thing about Judaism is the way it connects me with my family,” Wolf told Albom. “It transcends other things and brings us together.”
In 2023, he obtained Israeli citizenship to represent Israel at the FIBA U20 European Championship in Greece, leading the team to a silver medal. Wolf led the tournament with 12 rebounds per game, and put up a second-best 17.7 points per game.
“I honestly don’t think I can put words into the feelings,” Wolf said at the time. “Growing up in a Jewish household having Jewish beliefs and faith, I’ve never really been able to experience something like I have this past month. Just being able to represent Israel in a way that I haven’t been able to do in the past is something that I shouldn’t take for granted.”
Campus antisemitism
Not every Jewish experience has been positive. Prior to transferring to Michigan’s top-tier program this year, Wolf played basketball for Yale University, and experienced antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
“It was against Dartmouth,” he recalled to the Detroit Free Press. “There were (more than 80) fans who came to the game disguised. And then minutes into the game they broke out chanting and holding Palestinian flags. And it was a small gym, so everyone’s focus turned to that.”
The experience did not appear to affect his performance in the game, or that season: He notched a double-double in Yale’s win that night, won 2023-2024 Ivy League Tournament MVP honors and was named to the ‘23-24 All-Ivy First Team.
At Michigan, Wolf has blossomed into a superstar and is coming off of his latest stellar season: he’s averaging 13.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in 34 starts for Michigan, and earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors this season.
Michigan enters the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed and plays No. 12 UC San Diego Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET. (Also of Jewish interest in this year’s March Madness: four of the No. 1 seeds across the men’s and women’s tournaments are coached by Jews.)
Many prognosticators anticipate that Wolf will declare for this summer’s NBA Draft. ESPN calls him “college basketball’s most unique player,” and places him as the 12th-best draft prospect playing in March Madness, meaning that he’s likely to be picked in the first round of the draft.
“Danny takes a lot of pride in (his religion),” Michigan coach Dusty May told the Detroit Free Press. “His ultimate goal is the NBA and that’s in the future. But I think he’s really gonna take pride representing his family and his faith in the highest levels of basketball.”
Ben Saraf, a 6-foot-5 Israeli guard currently playing in Germany, is also appearing in mock drafts. If selected, they would join Israeli Deni Avdija and Domantas Sabonis, who is converting to Judaism, as the only Jewish players in the NBA.
On the court, Wolf is something of a unicorn. He’s 7 feet tall and led the Big Ten Conference in rebounding. But he also has elite passing skills, shoots 34% from three and earned ESPN’s praise as the “best pick-and-roll player in this draft.”
He says he’s continued to get hate for his identity, but is learning to tune it out.
“Now that I’m on a national stage and in the spotlight, you have ill-minded people that have some not great things to say,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s all around me, on social media, I get it all the time just in my DM’s and on comments and whatnot.
“But I’ve learned, and I’ve really talked to my parents about this, to push past it. It may be corny to say, but I’m just trying to be the bigger person. Nothing I can do in the moment will be good for me. Anything I say won’t impact me or them, and it might cause more harm than good.”
On Thursday night, Wolf will take the court as Michigan kicks off what it hopes will be a deep tournament run. Beyond March Madness glory, he’s also looking to dismantle age-old stereotypes about Jews and sports.
“Being Jewish is something I hold very near and dear to my heart,” he says. “But I’m not going to let it put a limit on what people think of me. I always knew, religion aside, I could achieve what I wanted if I put my mind to it.”
