The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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66 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2026 T he "Little Brother!" chants started from the Michigan basketball student section, as they always do during a victory over rival Michigan State, with about a minute left in an eventual 90-80 win March 8. It was noth- ing beyond the usual postgame winner's ritual, but for whatever reason, this one really caught Tom Izzo's attention. "I guess the crowd didn't watch the game, because I'm nobody's damn 'little brother,'" the MSU coach said in disgust in the post- game. "Neither is my team. I'm really proud of my team, how they played, what they did." What they did is lose to their hated rival by double digits for the second time this year. And while Izzo has had interesting postgame comments over the last several decades, his reaction here really raised eyebrows, even during the MSU-centric afternoon show on "97.1 The Ticket" Detroit. Host Mike Valenti, who wears his green and white on his sleeve, was blunt. "Just accept the loss with some grace. They're better than you are," he said. And then he added the part that many Michigan State fans remain in denial about, but many have already surmised. "Dusty May is the Curt Cignetti of college hoops," Valenti said in compar- ing May to the Indiana football national championship coach. "He is nailing the identifications. … They have money and he's building it, and he's done it two years in a row now." The only things we'll disagree with here — first, he's not just building it; it's been built, and virtually overnight. When John Beilein arrived, for example, it was a different game. It took some time to restore the culture and bring in the right players. The transfer rules and portal have changed the timeline substantially. At the same time, Michigan is far from the richest basketball roster out there. In fact, they're closer to the middle of the Big Ten than to the top, even, and all their players could have gotten substantially more to play elsewhere. Forward Yaxel Lendeborg got the most, but even he had bigger offers. So — and again — throw that narrative in the trash and understand that Michi- gan has a unicorn here. The fact that May had so many opportunities and offers but chose U-M was a gift from the basketball gods. "Anna, my wife, she is a major, ma- jor influence, and probably more of an influence on my decision-making than I have," May said. "… With Michigan, it ultimately came down to a place that we felt like, 'Where would we want our sons to go to college and feel like they're going to grow and develop and be better because they're in that environment?' "Michigan was the place that we felt the best about." It wasn't the best chance to win a title, he noted. The Wolverines were coming off an 8-24 season, after all, and there were questions about support. But he believed in the people, he added, made it happen by raising money and support with donors, etc., and the power of the Michigan brand was probably even more than he envisioned. His youngest boy, Eli, is a soph- omore. It stands to reason May wouldn't entertain any other of- fers until his son graduates, NBA or otherwise, though to be clear, we don't know of his aspirations. He does seem to have an affinity for the pro game, but maybe he wants Michigan to be his destina- tion job? When you have someone like this, you do whatever you can to make it so. May is elite in all areas. We know it, you know it — anyone who knows college basketball gets it. Even Izzo during his rambling postgame interrupted himself with, "I ain't taking a backseat to nobody." Clearly, May was on his mind. The big question here — does Michigan know it, and are those in charge willing to preserve it? And who's going to make these decisions? The good news here is that president- elect Kent Syverud, a Michigan graduate, has long followed U-M basketball, and he was a Beilein fan. Had they done it right with the former U-M coach, tried harder (or at all) to keep him, he might have fin- ished his career here. They simply can't make the same mistake with May. Those serious about winning should be having these conversations now — proactively — to determine what it would take to keep him here long term, and then make it happen. For too long now, Michigan basketball has taken a backseat. There will never be a better opportunity to create a dynasty in a major sport in Ann Arbor than there is now. Our message to those in charge, who- ever they are or may be: "Don't [mess] this up." ❏ Following Michigan's win over Michigan State, Mike Valenti, host of the MSU-themed afternoon show on "97.1 The Ticket" in Detroit, claimed, "Dusty May is the Curt Cignetti of college hoops." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 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 Time To Be Proactive With Dusty