The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544538
MAY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 21 minutes and play together for some- thing bigger than themselves. Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle Jr., for example, took freshman phenom Trey McKenney under his wing even though he knew he'd be sharing minutes with the shooting guard. The two both shined with huge moments in the postseason and couldn't have been happier. "I would say we look more at per- sonality traits," May said of recruiting. "There's a baseline of talent for us to re- cruit you at Michigan, but we also try to recruit guys that are unselfish who enjoy passing the ball, that love to compete or love to hoop. "If you love to hoop, you're going to enjoy being around us every day. If you don't love to hoop, then the competition piece is going to be enough for us. "After that, as far as being big, we felt like that's very safe defensively. If we can be really big, then we've got that side of the ball covered. We have confidence in our ability to teach the game on that side." TWEAKS AND A TITLE It also has to work offensively, and May admitted he and his staff had to go back to the drawing board early in the year when it looked a bit stagnant on that end. They decided to stick with it, though, and after a tougher-than-expected win over Wake Forest, they ripped through the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas with blowout wins over San Diego State, Auburn and Gonzaga. At that point, the Wolverines became the favorites to win the Big Ten. They blew through the competition with little resistance, finishing 19-1 and going a perfect 10-0 on the road. By the end of the regular season, they'd tweaked the offense into a perfectly executed plan. "Offensively, it's always a puzzle be- cause there's so much that goes into it," May said. "I just want guys with unique skill sets. They don't have to be great at everything, and we want to teach them the self-awareness of what they are great at. They need to live in those strengths, while we're going to work diligently on expanding their game. Their long-term growth and development as individuals is also important to us. "We want to win at a high, high level. … But we also want our guys to feel like when they leave here that we poured into them and invested in them outside of just winning for us and winning for Michigan." Mission accomplished. As May had said earlier in the year, he felt they were building a program that would be "really tough to leave" for other offers, even in this era. It's why players took less money to come to Michigan, why they all sacri- ficed for each other, and why they were able to come together to win a national championship. It will be hard to leave, Mara said, but he'll always have the memories. When they get together in 20 years, they'll have more than their rings to talk about, but also a brotherhood. "Being in this situation, I've had the best year of my life," Lendeborg said be- fore the first game of March Madness. "I'm in the spotlight, getting coached by a new coach that came from a mid- major. He knows how everything works. "He did a good job recruiting guys that care for each other and put the team above themselves. If that's what they want to call a 'mercenary,' I would love to be a mercenary. That's cool with me." And it's certainly cool with a fan base that will never forget what will be re- membered as the best Michigan basket- ball team in history — to date. ❏ May had the Wolverines pointed in the right direction from Day 1 of practice this season. PHOTO BY ANDREW MASCHARKA/MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY