ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's basketball program has a shot to win its second national title, and first since 1989, thanks to a remarkable rebuild under Dusty May.
Just two years ago, the Wolverines lost a school-record 24 games with former Fab Five star Juwan Howard in his fifth and final season as coach.
Athletic director Warde Manuel fired Howard and hired May away from Florida Atlantic.
May went to work right away on the turnaround, taking a new-school
approach to win in an era marked by money generated from name, image and likeness along with revenue sharing. He traveled all over the country to meet boosters to raise funds to help him compete for players from the transfer portal and prospects in high school with a competitive payroll.
“I would say this team costs 50% of the best budgets in college basketball,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Intentionally, and out of necessity, he hit the transfer portal hard in each of his two years.
“We felt like we needed to be really good in Year 1," May said, overlooking the team’s dimly lit practice courts. “We needed to have a product that potential recruits could watch and say: 'I want to be a part of that. That looks appealing.'”
Check.
May landed Vladislav Goldin, one of the starters from his 2023 Final Four team at FAU, and former Yale star Danny Wolf to lead the way during his successful debut season at Michigan.
The Wolverines were 27-10 overall and 14-6 in the Big Ten, winning the conference tournament and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
May went into his second season with another influx of transfers — UAB's Yaxel Lendeborg, Illinois' Morez Johnson, North Carolina's Elliot Cadeau and UCLA's Aday Mara — and they were the top players on one of the best teams in school history.
Michigan was No. 1 in the AP Top 25 last month for the first time since 2013, won the Big Ten regular-season championship with a 19-1 record and enters its opening game of March Madness on Thursday with 31 victories, two shy of the school record.
The Wolverines, who earned top seeding in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time, like their chances to cut down the nets in three weeks.
“We definitely do feel like we can be the national champions,” Lendeborg said.
Michigan might have come up with a secret sauce in its search for the right people to put in the program, looking beyond size, talent and scoring ability in the transfer portal and high school.
“We want to identify guys that like passing the basketball," assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church said in his office. “That’s a huge indicator of their personality. It's an unselfish characteristic. That makes guys easier to play with and to bond with as teammates."
May, though, knows he will have to continue to entice key players to stay instead of transferring and targets in the transfer portal and high schools to come to Michigan.
Unlike some coaches who bristle at the changing landscape of college athletics, May embraces it. He freely talks about some of his players outperforming their contracts and says negotiations on terms for next year's team won't start until the season ends as if he's an NBA coach or general manager.
Instead of trying to predict how much he will use the transfer portal this offseason and in following years, versus leaning on high school recruits, he takes a wait-and-see approach.
“It's not our decision,” he said simply. “If you're not paying your returners what they think they’re worth or what someone else thinks they're worth, you're not really able to select who you want to keep and bring in.
"We don't have power over them. They don't have to stay. If someone doesn't like their role or their salary, they can leave. And if that happens, then you have to go to the portal.”
Nimari Burnett transferred from Alabama to play for Howard at Michigan. He is one of just two players, along with Will Tschetter, left from the team that set a school record for losses.
The shooting guard still can't believe what he has witnessed over the last two years. After the program was on shaky ground following the ugly end of the Howard era, it is suddenly on solid footing with May leading the way.
“The culture that he implements is the best part about it,” Burnett said. “You know how sometimes coaches can get loud? That's not him. He's very calm, honest and direct — and knows what he wants.”
Such as wanting players willing to pass?
“That’s exactly what they said to me when I came back for my last year,” Burnett said.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
