The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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58 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2025 T here are two ways you can look at teams that always seem to win the close games, and it usually depends on which program's colors you're wearing … they're either ex- tremely "lucky," or they've just been prepared so well that they don't melt when the stage gets hot (that old aphorism, "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity"). Michigan basketball coach Dusty May might suggest the Wolverines had more than their share of chances this year, hav- ing played an inordinate num- ber of tight games. Two of them came in the Big Ten Tournament — an 81-80 win over Maryland and a last-minute surge to beat Wisconsin, 59-53, for the title — after which May deflected praise to his rejuvenated players. "The level of confidence and belief our guys have down the stretch is some- thing that gives me even more confi- dence going into the tournament," May said after his team rallied from 11 down to beat the Badgers. It should, former Michigan head coach John Beilein told us in the days following one of the most improbable, one-year turnarounds in program his- tory. Last year, the Wolverines won only eight total games in a disastrous season that led to Juwan Howard's dismissal and May's hiring. Now, they're Big Ten Tournament champions heading into the NCAA Tournament as the automatic qualifier from the league. If you'd bet on that before the year, you're probably still counting your money. Even with the double bye and not playing until Friday, May's first team was only given the seventh-best odds to win the event after limping in having lost three in a row. All of it deserves even more attention than it's gotten, Beilein insisted. "It's an amazing story. People need to appreciate it more," the Hall of Fame coach said. "It's not being appreciated enough. This is absolutely amazing, es- pecially with how they were playing. "When I saw this team play in Janu- ary, even in November and December, I said, 'This team can go a long way.' At the end of February, that team disap- peared for a couple weeks. But they're back, baby. They played. They played. It was really a great thing to see." As a guy who had more than his share of postseason success, Beilein knew what buttons to push in the postseason and how to rally his troops when it mat- tered most. That's the sign of an elite head coach, and in his short time in that position, May is already approaching that territory. At Florida Atlantic, he took a No. 9 seed mid-major to the Final Four and nearly to the title game. Now, he's al- ready hung a banner in Year 1 at Michi- gan, and despite a tough draw, the Wolverines get a shot to hang another, having recaptured the mojo that made them legit Big Ten contenders before they ran out of gas. Two things stood out, Beilein noted. "Defensively, they really needed to shore some things up," he said. "When t h ey we n t ba c k to sw i tc h - ing, even with [center] Vlad [Goldin], at times — they tried not to switch with Vlad, but if it happened, it happened on ball screens. Then, the great length they have at the rim … it's very hard to score on them." Part II — getting his point guard's mojo back. At times this March, junior Tre Donaldson seemed to avoid taking control of games down the stretch. The Wolverines got their quarterback back in Indianapolis, and that bodes well going forward. "I suspect Dusty had a lot of input getting Tre back and more involved with the ball," Beilein said, and he was right. Donald- son noted how May reminded him heading into the postseason why he brought him to Michigan … because he believed he could be that championship-level guard. "[Forward] Danny Wolf still has that type of freedom, but Donaldson has to have the ball more," said the coach. As for that "preparation" part? That was on full display at the end of the Maryland game, when Donaldson went the length of the floor after two Terps free throws to win the game with a driv- ing, lefty layup. "First of all, to be able to run that play so beautifully without calling timeout … that's something you've got to prac- tice over and over again in practice," Beilein said. "Three dribbles to the bas- ket, baby. It was incredible." As is the one-year turnaround, he added again. The Wolverines have their work cut out for them in a tough bracket, but they also have the confidence to contend thanks to a leader who pushed all the right buttons. It brought back memories of the best of Beilein … and that's about as high a com- pliment as anyone could give. ❏ Dusty May got to hoist the Big Ten Tournament championship trophy after pushing all the right buttons with his team following a rocky end to the regular season. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine since 1997. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @Balas _ Wolverine. INSIDE MICHIGAN ❱ CHRIS BALAS 'They're Back, Baby'