The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544538
8 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2026 T hey boldly put it out there, months before they ever cut down the nets in Indianapolis. Dusty May's 2025-26 crew wanted to be known as the best Michigan basketball team of all time. Despite passions, loyalties, and the fond memories for other notables, they've got a strong argument. There can be no pushback regarding the most accomplished crew of Wolverines ever. It's this one. Consider the hard facts. This band of national champions … • Won the Big Ten title going away, by four full games. That's in an 18-team Big Ten, which included two Final Four teams, three Elite Eight squads and six Sweet 16 programs. • Scored 90-plus points in its first five games of the NCAA Tournament, winning by 21, 23, 13, 33 and 18 points. Those included wins over a No. 6 seed, a No. 4 and a No. 1. • Facing a No. 2 seed going for its third national championship in four seasons, forced into the opponent's pace the entire game, limited to just a lonely pair of three-pointers and virtually no fast-break points — staples of Michigan dominance all season — they found a way to win. They did so with their best player gutting it out on one leg, sans the explosiveness that marked Yaxel Lend- eborg's entire season. Sure, Michigan will be forever fond of its first national champs, the 1989 Shock-The-World crew of Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Rumeal Rob- inson and that assemblage which rose up for One Shining Moment. After fin- ishing third in the Big Ten and firing its head coach — after learning of his intentions to move on the following season — Michigan went on a six-game rampage to the title under new boss Steve Fisher. Fab Five Forever fans will point to the 1992-93 crew, featuring three NBA All- Stars and a style that changed the bas- ketball landscape. It came within one unsuccessfully executed possession of winning it all. Sure, the price for a ticket to a showdown between the in-their- prime '89 or '93 teams and Dusty May's national champs might dwarf that of a Super Bowl, but of this there's no doubt. May's team got it done — in the league and in the end. "It's been an honor for two years, to represent all of you and to be called Coach by these guys," May said at Mich- igan's national championship celebra- tion at Crisler Arena. "Any time you have a group come together and you feel like they gave you so much more than you could ever give them, it melts you. These guys did it for each other, they did it for the staff, they did it for all of you, and they did it for all the right reasons — with class, with effort, and support for each other. That's all you can ask for as a coach." They also did it amid the howl- ing voices of Michigan-hating shade throwers, as delusional as plans for a Tiger Woods Defensive Driving School. Among the choicest fabrications … • They're mercenaries, in it for the cash. • It's the best team money can buy. • They went out and stole All-Ameri- cans off other rosters to win a title. Cry harder, and bathe in green envy. Michigan featured nearly the same number of transfers as Michigan State, source of much of the shrieking. May just chose better. Kentucky spent more than twice as much as Michigan, for the right to finish seventh in the SEC, beat Santa Clara in the opening round of the NCAA Tour- nament, then get destroyed by Iowa State (82-63) in the round of 32. And the notion that May yanked away an All-Star lineup? Laughable. He cre- ated one. Aday Mara went from UCLA's bench to the national championship at Michi- gan. Morez Johnson Jr. went from Il- linois reserve to Michigan's muscle. Elliot Cadeau went from an all-time confidence nadir upon leaving North Carolina to the Final Four's Most Out- standing Player. Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter stuck with the program and the new coach, following a devastating 8-24 season two years ago. Roddy Gayle Jr. signed on out of Ohio State, before May had won a game in maize and blue. Freshman Trey McKenney — who would have started for 90-plus percent of pro- grams — came off the bench without a word of dissent, right through hitting the title-clinching three in the champi- onship game. And the Mentos mint that made this Michigan soda geyser absolutely ex- plode? He gave up minutes, points, the ball and any ego along the way — to win. The UAB transfer put it best himself, in a farewell post on social media. "What we built wasn't given, it was earned, and our legacy is forever stamped in Michigan's history," wrote Big Ten Player of the Year, Michigan leading scorer and national champion Yaxel Lendeborg. "We shocked the world. Job complete." ❏ WOLVERINE WATCH ❱ JOHN BORTON A Team For The Ages The notion that Dusty May recruited an All-Star lineup of transfers is laughable. He created one. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Senior writer John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @JB_Wolverine.