The Athletic has live coverage of UConn vs. Michigan in the Men’s March Madness 2026 national championship game.
INDIANAPOLIS — History is written by the victors, and Dusty May used the opportunity Sunday to share some words with the people who want to discredit what he’s done at Michigan.
He bought this team, they said, he didn’t develop it. These are transactional relationships, they said, not genuine ones. And are we sure he didn’t overstep, they said (lowering their voices to a hush), and do a little tampering in the process? “They” would mostly be fans of other teams on social media. Not worth addressing the day before Michigan and UConn play for the whole thing.
But May clearly thinks some actual humans of prominence in men’s college basketball think these things, not just @SpartyMarty8675309. So he got some shots in and they landed, because criticisms of the job he’s done at Michigan are rooted in bitterness that he’s done it so well.
“Look, I know this is going to set off a Twitter firestorm, but I think we all are better in certain situations than others,” he said when asked about those who criticize a team built so heavily on transfers, later referencing the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I wasn’t judging them because Shai Alexander was drafted by the Clippers or because (the Thunder) signed Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent,” May said of OKC. “I thought, ‘Wow, those guys played beautiful basketball, that’s a great team, that’s a real model for young players to watch.’”
Asked about the value of the continuity represented by Alex Karaban in his fourth year at UConn, playing Monday for a third national championship under Dan Hurley, May got to this thought: “We took four guys out of the portal. If you listen to the college basketball gospel, we took 17 of them, and that’s all we have.”
Later came a totally unrelated question about assistant coach Justin Joyner pulling double duty because he was recently hired to be Oregon State’s head coach.
“I feel like he was tampered with, first of all,” May said. “He was under contract at Michigan.”
Chef’s kiss. Laughter in the room. Enough subtext to fill a textbook.
If May has done anything wrong, then someone ought to stick their chest out and say it.
While you’re at it, please explain what the rules are, how they’d be violated and when enforcement becomes part of the process. And how any of this would be different from a school reaching out to a coach through his agent while he’s in-season coaching another team — as I sure as heck hope North Carolina did with maximum effort in attempting to hire May.
There’s something we didn’t hear mentioned Sunday, by the way. Not a peep about the open North Carolina job. That’s because May clearly wasn’t leaving Michigan for North Carolina. That became official a few hours later. He prefers Ann Arbor to Chapel Hill as his basketball home.
A few years ago, that would have been unthinkable, or at least quite strange. But being a royal in today’s world of college athletics brings less power than it used to — the royals in England went through it in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s still a very good thing to be, of course. There are advantages.
But this is the world of Texas Tech football putting together the finest rosters in the land, of Vanderbilt being good at all the revenue-generating sports, of Indiana fans hoping their football team can repeat as the national champion — which distracts them from wishing AD Scott Dolson would have made a basketball coaching change in 2024 and gone after May to fill it.
The former IU student manager under Bobby Knight is set up to keep punishing his alma mater for that mistake. This is the world of investment and coaching excellence making historical limitations moot in an instant. May has what he needs from Michigan to have more seasons like this — remember, fans, historically dominant teams can’t happen every year — and Michigan has one of the best young coaches in basketball.
(Though at 49, not as young as Hurley presumed he was by the sight of his “great”-looking hair).
“Just take what Dusty did (in 2023), Florida Atlantic to the Final Four?” Hurley said of the run that introduced May to the general public. “If you look at that roster, his talent evaluation, his roster construction, his culture, both ends of the court, plus the rebounding, just there’s no real holes in any of it. … He’ll be one of the best coaches for — hopefully this is the first of many meetings in these big spots between me and Dusty.”
A lot of other coaches would prefer otherwise. They better hope he gets the NBA itch soon, or he might have a Hurley-like run in him.
Saturday’s 91-73 laugher over Arizona in what was supposed to be the game of the tournament unveiled a couple of strokes of coaching brilliance from May — having his players shoot outside on the field at Michigan Stadium to prepare for the change in depth perception in a massive arena, and having them work on missed shots off the glass as passes to beat Arizona’s size.
The bigger picture is simpler. Be an expert in your craft. Treat people well. Be honest with them. Push them without browbeating them. Create an effective working environment.
May’s staff takes pride in both the evaluation and development of players, and it can get granular — they like to take potential recruits to a gym with a rack of basketballs. The guys who can’t help but go grab a ball and start shooting are probably the ones who love the game to the extent required.
May and his staff also try to stay ahead of the curve on things, as seen in his meetings with a principal to learn more about teaching. They’ve visited other staffs around the country, Damian Lillard’s trainer and a Michigan business professor for ideas.
“Our superpower is we’re forever learning,” Michigan assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen said.
And yes, it helps to have the money. It helps to go get coveted players such as Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB and Morez Johnson Jr., from Illinois. It also helps to take Elliot Cadeau from North Carolina and Aday Mara from UCLA and instantly elicit enormous performance jumps from both.
May’s been in the portal to build two Michigan teams, but he also has a freshman guard, Trey McKenney, who should be foundational as a sophomore. He just got a commitment from five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr. for next season. This roster will even out in terms of developed players and high-impact adds.
As surprising as it will be if Michigan doesn’t beat UConn, it will be more surprising if the Wolverines aren’t knocking on the door regularly as long as May is coaching them. He has everything it takes.
All the other noise, the stuff May decided to put on blast Sunday, is largely the creation of people who cringe every time they hear the Michigan fight song. It’s called “The Victors.” Get ready to hear it a whole bunch Monday night.
