The Michigan Wolverines are one week removed from winning the national championship. Michigan finished the 2025-26 season with a program-record 37 wins and delivered the Big Ten its first national title since Michigan State in 2000.
That didn’t happen by accident. Head coach Dusty May arrived in Ann Arbor two years ago with a reputation for building teams the right way. Athletic Director Warde Manuel saw it from the start.
“Listen, I’m surprised he had it in two years,” Manuel said after the National
Championship. “But what I saw in him is I saw how he talked about building a team and putting people in the right place and how he talked about connecting with people, and you can see it in the way this team plays for each other. He was very successful at FAU. A lot of people, everybody I talked to talked about what a great person he was on top of being a great coach, and, and he has really shown all of that in the last two years. I’m so happy that he’s with us.”
Michigan won with four transfers who all made extremely meaningful contributions, but many forget who those transfers were when they arrived. Outside of Yaxel Lendeborg, who was the No. 1 transfer in the country, the rest were not the highest rated names available. According to 247Sports, Morez Johnson Jr. was ranked No. 26 in the portal last year, while Aday Mara was No. 46 and Elliot Cadeau — the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four — was No. 60.
May didn’t chase the rankings, he chased the right fits, and that should be the blueprint to how Michigan can build on the national title to win more in the coming years.
“It just so happens that the collection of transfers and kids on the team from the previous years were able to gel together and connect,” Manuel said. “Y’all have heard it. Ask them when you talk to them, they talk about loving each other and really liking each other as people. You don’t have many teams like that, man. You don’t have many teams where everybody says how much they like and care and enjoy each other. And again, that’s Dusty not selecting the most talented, but the right fit. Give him all the credit for putting this team together.”
That culture produced results when the games mattered most. Michigan became the first program in tournament history to score at least 90 points in five consecutive games. May created a culture where resilience and selflessness trumped every other quality of a star player. He preached leadership, toughness, composure and a genuine belief in one another.
That resilience is what Roddy Gayle Jr. pointed to when reflecting on the season.
“I think we just understood what it took for us to be successful, especially in the late-season push that we had (in 2025), and we’re able to implement that to a new group of guys,” Gayle said. “I think that under coach May and his staff, anything is possible.”
Now comes the hard part — sustaining it. Michigan is losing five players (as of now) to the NBA/graduation. Replacing that production is no small task, but May has already shown he knows how. Within days of the final buzzer, Michigan landed a commitment from Tennessee big man JP Estrella, a 6-foot-11, 240-pounder ranked No. 21 in the transfer portal. Five-star high school guard recruit Brandon McCoy Jr. also committed during the Final Four, giving Michigan a top-two ranked incoming class.
Elliot Cadeau is coming back, as is Trey McKenney, giving May proven stars in the backcourt to build around. Most importantly, however, the team goes where May goes, and Manuel made clear during the championship celebration that May is not going anywhere.
Championship windows in college basketball close fast. The portal opens moments after the confetti falls, and rosters are rebuilt almost annually. But what May has constructed at Michigan is a culture and a standard, not just a flashy roster. Michigan’s title is a reminder that sustained program-building and a coherent team identity can still produce championships in an era where the public narrative often gravitates toward money. That culture is what has players believing the Wolverines can sit atop of the mountain for years to come.
“The future is very, very, very bright,” Tschetter said. “It’s in amazing hands, and we’re definitely gonna be hanging a ton more banners up there. So get ready for next year.”
