The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 23 obvious success stories — but the list of those who couldn't do it is much longer. Beilein, a College Basketball Hall of Famer, didn't last a year with the Cleve- land Cavaliers before resigning. Nebras- ka's Fred Hoiberg went from Iowa State to the Chicago Bulls before ending up with the Cornhuskers after struggling mightily in the NBA. But May leaves Michigan with confi- dence and high hopes. Many believe he has the perfect personality and acumen to make the league, and — not surpris- ingly — he has complete confidence in himself after dominating college basket- ball with the Wolverines this year. "It's two things — one, the merger of the game, of college becoming more professional and professional becoming younger," he began. "The other thing is, I look at [Oklahoma City Thunder head coach] Mark Daigneault as a college guy. I look at [Atlanta Hawks head coach] Quinn Snyder as a college guy. Now, they had some G League experience and lim- ited assistant coaching experience before they got their opportunities. Billy Dono- van [too] is a college guy. "I remember competing against Quinn's teams at Missouri, and I leaned on Coach Daigneault when I got to Flor- ida, because he was on the outgoing staff. Any time you go to a new job, you want to pick the brain of the guys that were there before to find out what they did well and what didn't go well." Even some of those who struggled ini- tially went on to succeed, while some Hall of Famers had success before they started to struggle, he added. Each situation is "completely different," he noted, but he feels like he fell into an elite one, and his confidence stems from the organization he landed with. But he leaves Ann Arbor with great memories and a sense of accomplish- ment. If you'd asked Michigan fans if they could only have May for two years but hang banners in each, including the ulti- mate this year with both Big Ten regular- season and NCAA championship hard- ware, they'd have taken it in a second. It meant as much to May as it did to them. "When my family and I came to Ann Arbor two years ago, we hoped we could help bring Michigan basketball back to where it belongs," he said in his goodbye statement. "I never could have imag- ined how special these last two seasons would be. You embraced us from day one. You packed Crisler, traveled all over the country, and supported our players through every high and low. The memo- ries we made together — from winning the Big Ten to cutting down the nets in Indianapolis — are ones my family and I will carry with us forever." What he'll miss most, he added, are the people. "The players, coaches, staff, students, alumni and fans who care so deeply about this place … Michigan is special because of all of you," he said. "This wasn't an easy decision. An opportunity came along that was right for my family and something I felt I needed to pursue, but that doesn't change how much these last two years have meant to us. Ann Ar- bor became home, and we'll always be grateful for the relationships and memo- ries that came from our time here. "Thank you for trusting us, believing in us and making these last two years so much fun. It was an honor to coach at Michigan and wear the Block 'M.'" It will look different, and we'll be watching from afar, but we'll say it again in wishing May all the best … We can't wait to see what he does next. ❏ Dusty May Won't Be The Only Michigan Man In Dallas Before the June 23 NBA Draft, Michigan big men Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. couldn't help but wonder if they might reunite with Dusty May in Dallas. Lend- eborg, in fact, issued a "warning" to his coach a day before the draft when May accepted the job. "He'd better pick me up. If he doesn't, I'm going to block him," he quipped. Instead, Johnson went to the Mavericks with the No. 9 pick overall in a move even May didn't see coming. Lendeborg went No. 11 to Golden State and Mara No. 12 to Oklahoma City, giving the Wolverines three lottery picks in a year for the first time in school history. "I'm definitely mad at Dusty right now, because we know who his favorite was now," Lendeborg said with a laugh at his introductory press conference. He also noted that in their group chat, Johnson was always the one insisting he'd go last. Instead, the Mavericks loved what they saw from the 6-foot-9 standout who tested off the charts at the May NBA Combine. And while pundits immediately questioned how he might fit next to elite big man Cooper Flagg, one of the NBA's top rookies this year, May expressed confidence it would work just fine. "It's positional versatility, and I think when you look at [President] Masai [Ujiri]'s teams that he built with his staff in Toronto, we're starting to resemble that," May said. "We're going to have that positional size that's switchable. We'll have to continue to add to our skill sets, but Morez checks a lot of boxes. He has the NBA physicality and durability to play right now. He also is very self-aware, where he knows who he is and how he has to play to be at his best and to help the team function at its best." He's also a great screener, a great connector, and someone who can guard multiple po- sitions, May noted, the same things he told us about the forward after he picked him up from Illinois in the transfer portal. His eyes lit up when he spoke about his basketball IQ and acumen, and he got the most out of him. Yet he had little to do with his player ending up in Dallas. May was just as surprised as everyone else when they chose him on his second day on the job. "I had no idea we were drafting 'Rez. Masai texted me right when they decided to make the selection, and I didn't even see the message," he said. "I thought I missed it. So, my phone started buzzing, and people were sending me messages, and I still didn't know who it was. I kind of had to play it off, and then I saw Morez's agent, and he kind of tipped his cap." The Mavericks had been thorough in exploring their options even before they contacted May about their opening, the coach said, asking him questions "for days" about all of his guys, the teams they competed against, players in their league and even guys he watched growing up. They couldn't have gone wrong with any of them, May said, but he's happy they landed on Johnson. "The information … I was honest and transparent, especially for our guys, because they need to be in the best situations for them," May said. "I was just happy that we got one of the three." — Chris Balas