The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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20 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2026 Burnett started for two years under May, but there were games in which he didn't play as many minutes as some of the backups depending on his output, and his minutes decreased from 26.3 last year to 19.8. Tschetter averaged only 13.7 minutes of playing time, but his leader- ship would prove critical this year. Both got emotional in talking about their journeys. "When Dusty was coming in, he was all about people making plays for each other," Burnett said. "He told me in my first meeting with him, 'It won't be a certain guy averaging 18 points per game, or for the points to be top-heavy. We'll all eat and share together.'" BUILDING A CHAMPION That takes talent, though, and that means money in the NIL era. Center Aday Mara and forward Morez Johnson Jr. weren't the highest-rated players in the portal but both took less money than they would have gotten elsewhere to get a fresh start with May. One source said Mara could have made $200,000 more staying at UCLA, but he was ready to move on. The Spaniard took the high road when Bruins coach Mick Cronin took credit for "developing " him, implying he transferred for money. In reality, he just wanted to enjoy the game again. "When we first talked, Dusty told me that I had the opportunity to be the start- ing center, but the first few months I didn't believe it 100 percent," Mara said. "The last two years made me overthink a lot because I didn't get what he was expect- ing. I was just overthinking it and saying, 'Yeah, he can say that now, but maybe it's not what's going to happen.' "But as soon as we started practicing, he was doing what he said." Mara rewarded May's faith by becom- ing a dominant two-way player, a key to the Wolverines' title. He averaged 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots per game and is now a projected lottery pick in the NBA Draft. May texted Tschetter after point guard Elliot Cadeau then Johnson pledged — 10 days before Mara even committed — writing, "We're going to win a national championship." "I said, 'Let's go do it,'" Tschetter re- sponded. Four days later they had forward Yaxel Lendeborg, the portal's No. 1 player, in the fold, and they were off and run- ning. They felt like the favorites to win it all when Lendeborg confirmed in May he'd forgo the NBA to play one season at Michigan. The UAB transfer was the catalyst in this year's NCAA Tournament, dominat- ing in Games 2 through 4 — wins over Saint Louis, Alabama and Tennessee — by averaging 25 points per game. He turned an ankle in a Final Four win over Arizona and played through pain in the title game victory, but Cadeau picked him up, earning Most Outstanding Player honors. The North Carolina castoff and his teammates were tagged by some ri- vals as "mercenaries," but nothing could have been further from the truth. "We took four transfers this year. If you listen to the college basketball gos- pel, we took 17 of them," May said sar- castically. "I guess they wanted us to have all fifth-year seniors, but we don't." And the fact is, they did it better than others who spent much more on their rosters. It's one thing to collect talent, but another to get them to sacrifice The in-season hype hit an all-time high Feb. 21 when "ESPN College GameDay" televised Michigan's practice session the morning of the neutral-site game with Duke in Washington, D.C. The Wolverines lost for only the second time all season, 68-63. PHOTO BY ANDREW MASCHARKA/MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY