The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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62 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2026 I t's the best college basketball time of the year, and it's even better when your favorite team has a chance to achieve something special in March and April. The Wolverines have had their fair share of it over the years, with an elite program that's made at least one Final Four in five of the last six decades, in- cluding twice in the 2010s (2013 and '18). While it's subjective, it's hard to imag- ine that Michigan ever had higher expec- tations heading into the postseason than it does right now, a testament to what head coach Dusty May and Co. have built and developed in such a short amount of time. And Michigan is built for March and April, too. Winning a lot of regular-sea- son games doesn't necessarily always translate to tournament success. Just ask Purdue, which has won more Big Ten titles than anybody but went 44 years between Final Four bids from 1980 to 2024. There's nothing comfortable about watching your team play in March Mad- ness, but Michigan fans have to feel great about their chances. Before May took the job at Florida Atlantic in 2018-19, coaching the Owls was seen by those in the industry as possible career suicide, given the lack of resources and facilities. As it turns out, May was good enough to use FAU as a career elevator, reaching the Final Four in 2023 and becoming one of the hottest coaches on the market. As a head coach, May is 10-4 in con- ference tournaments, after leading Michigan to the title in Indianapolis last season, and 6-3 in the NCAA Tourna- ment. In his two seasons in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines are 10-1 in tournament settings, between early-season, confer- ence and NCAA tournament contests. There are good coaches who struggle in the postseason, but May has already established a great track record in games when it matters most. BUILT FOR IT, BECAUSE THEY BUILT FOR IT When devising schemes on both sides of the floor, in the back of coaches' minds is a desire to be tough to scout, especially on short prep. "That's an important part of the sche- matics, but us figuring out the best way for our group to play is more important," May said. Those two things go hand in hand. "We've changed a lot over the years," the Michigan coach continued. "Every year, we've changed, because we feel like we have to be adaptable to our personnel. "Our goal is to find really good players who are also great teammates and hard workers. They match us as far as the other attributes. And then we feel very con- fident that, because of the staff's wide range of experiences, we can figure out the best way for this group to play once we identify who they are, what they do well, things like that in the summer." The Wolverines have done that with unique groups the last two seasons, with this staff proving elite at identifying talent and being creative to ensure the pieces fit well together. First, it was two 7-foot- ers in the starting lineup, Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin. This year, it's been starting three players who were centers on their teams a year ago. That, plus the switch-heavy defensive scheme, is hard to prepare for. It's something you haven't seen before and can't simulate in a short practice, walkthrough or shoot-around. ONE BIG (MAN) CONCERN An issue Michigan could possibly run into is foul trouble to its big men, ju- nior center Aday Mara (7-foot-3) and sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. (6-foot-9). It hasn't been a big problem this year, but there have been a few oc- casions where at least one has picked up two personals in the first half and sat extended minutes as a result. Two recent games — a loss to Duke in Washington, D.C., and 10-point win over Michigan State — are examples of this. The Wol- verines have other talented players that can keep them afloat, but they aren't clicking fully unless at least one of the bigs is available. Frontcourt players are going to pick up fouls more than other positions — it's just the reality that comes with being matched up against other physical bigs and spending a lot of time in the paint. However, mitigating risk is the key. "Aday can't get a foul trying to post up at 18 feet. I don't know what happened on the second one — but that one becomes so much more impactful because of the first one," said May, explaining what hap- pened in the Michigan State game. "Those are the ones we have to elimi- nate. If we're going vertical on a shot and they feel like he came down to block it, we can live with those. We just can't live with the mental error fouls." Having an available Mara, especially, is so critical to the Wolverines given that he's ascended over the last 10 games. During that time frame, Michigan has a +30.6 net rating (points per 100 pos- sessions) with Mara on the floor versus +23.6 when he's off, with the defensive numbers taking a huge jump (94.3 defen- sive rating when on vs. 103.2 when off). "It's going to be even more important to avoid foul trouble moving forward," May noted. Because it's do or die all the way through April 6. ❏ SAYFIE BLITZ ❱ CLAYTON SAYFIE Michigan Is Built For Success In two seasons in Ann Arbor, Dusty May has led the Wolverines to a 10-1 mark in tourna- ment settings, including early-season, confer- ence and NCAA Tournament games. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Staff writer Clayton Sayfie has covered Michigan athletics for The Wolverine since 2019. Contact him at Clayton.Sayfie @on3.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @CSayf23.