After winning the Big Ten Tournament a year ago and making it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, Michigan head coach Dusty May and his coaching staff completely reloaded the roster. The Wolverines prioritized top transfer portal players to supplement his highly-touted freshmen and returning players, hoping to put together enough talent for the present and the future.
Recruiting players to Michigan isn’t all about money, however. As seen with last year’s team, despite the success May had in his first season, the entire team could have left Ann Arbor for other opportunities if they believed it could lead to a larger bag. Instead, May has built a belief in his system and culture, allowing him to develop the guys in the building while filling holes in the future to consistently be at the top of college basketball.
Part of coaching at a school like Michigan, however, is that not everyone sees it the same way. With one of the largest budgets in college basketball and the global reach of the “Block M” brand, some see only dollar signs when they think of the Wolverines.
“I know people outside of our tribe will call our guys these derogatory names, ‘mercenaries’ and whatnot. We have a group of guys that love playing with each other,” May told the media on Monday. “They appreciate Michigan and when you see how connected they are, I don’t know how you would classify them as guys playing just for money when they all sacrificed a great deal of money to do what they’re doing together. And so we have a long way to go, but very happy with being in position to compete at the midway point.”
Part of what makes Michigan so special this season is the amount of talent on the roster. The Wolverines grabbed Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 1 player in the portal last offseason, along with other starting players in Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Elliot Cadeau. May paired those guys with returners Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter and L.J. Cason, and nabbed top in-state recruit Trey McKenney, who has been a weapon off the bench.
With the way the Wolverines have been playing, it is easy to look back at the offseason and say they threw more money at these players than other programs and that they “bought” their team. But according to May, college basketball isn’t only about having the best players, but it is also about finding a group that can work well together.
It works the other way as well. When a player hits the portal, they are searching for a situation that is going to bring them success and growth. Anyone not recruiting that way is going to get left behind, while those that are, such as Michigan, will continue to stay at the top.
“I get it, man. I think everyone would rather us just come in and sign a bunch of freshmen and lose and try to grow it organically, but our job from day one was to win, and so we brought in a balanced class,” May said when asked about the “mercenary” comments. “…If we’re not fluid and flexible — we coaches don’t have the control that we had seven years ago. We don’t really have any control, and I’m okay with that. We want to prepare these guys for what’s next, and we want them to stay as long as they’re committed to doing it together and representing Michigan. But if they choose something different, then we’re not mad at them. We’re not making this about us.”
Every team in the country loses players to the portal, and that trend is not going away. Michigan alone lost its starting point guard Tre Donaldson, freshmen Justin Pippen and Phat Phat Brooks, and key role players Sam Walters and Jace Howard. May’s job is to identify talent, improve the roster and fill gaps as needed — exactly what he did entering his second season, and the results have followed.
There must be a mutual understanding moving forward that both players and coaches have the right to move on when a situation is no longer working. The sooner that programs accept that, the sooner they can succeed like the programs that are embracing it.
“I watched a couple of our guys that left after last year’s team play this weekend, and man, I love watching those guys,” May said. We still talk to them. They root for us. We root for them. We’re still in each other’s lives. We’re part of each other’s journeys. Our situation wasn’t what they wanted at that time and we’re okay with it. We’re not mad at them.”
