DENVER, CO (CBB REVIEW) – Only one Michigan basketball head coach, John Beilein, has ever been inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Texas A&M basketball head coach Buzz Williams believes the Wolverines will have two in the future because of Dusty May.
“I think at his age, for him to have a brand-premier job like Michigan,” Williams said about May on Friday. “I think it sets you up, particularly in the industry the way that it is now, to have that level of job at that age with those level of resources.”
May, even-keeled yet passionate, helped Michigan basketball overcome a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Texas A&M 91-79 on Saturday evening to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2021. As time trickled down inside Ball Arena, chants of ‘Dusty May’ rang out from those in Maize and Blue, players celebrated with them after the final buzzer, and May entered the press conference room in a drenched t-shirt.
A moment of elation after months of anguish.
“This summer, we didn’t know what this season would look like,” May said after the win. “But we knew we had some special guys with big hearts and big brains. So, it’s a choppy part of the year, but this group stayed together and did it together the entire way.”
The Wolverines entered the 2024-25 season after a horrid campaign the year prior. They went 8-24 overall, finishing last in the Big 10 with a 3-17 record. The program fired then-head coach Juwan Howard, a team legend as one of the members on the Fab 5 in the 1990s.
So, along came May, who came from his first head coaching gig at Florida Atlantic. He posted an 129-69 overall record during his six season in Boca Raton, leading the Owls to the Final Four in 2023 as a No. 9 seed.
“Knowing the success that he had, inspiring us to better our games and expand on our individual games, then being team players, locking into winning,” said graduate guard Nimari Burnett, who transferred in a season before May, on Friday afternoon. “He definitely put a great group together around us to turn the page this year.”
“The biggest message that he relayed to me that really stuck was just recruiting unselfish, great guys,” redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter added. “I think that we put together a team where we all get along really, really well. We’re a pretty tight-knit group. I feel like the chemistry that he recruited was perfect.”
Michigan basketball ascended to the top of its conference, being crowned Big Ten champions after beating Wisconsin 59-53 on Mar. 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
After winning eight games the season prior, the Maize and Blue won 27, and are a top 25 team according to KenPom.
“Sometimes, when you start a program anew, you want to implement everything,” May said. “You want your culture, you want your processes, your environment. Your constantly trying to get things the way you want them…Sometimes, maybe we have done too much, I don’t know. I just know that when this group was locked in on something together, then they’re going to figure out a way to do it.”
Like its game against UC San Diego, Michigan basketball faced adversity in the second half. But it ended the game against Texas A&M on a 38-19 run over the last 13 minutes. Its players gritted their teeth to equalize and took the lead with free throws from junior guard Rodd Gayle Jr. He finished the night with 26 points off the bench, and his teammates mobbed him after the final buzzer.
“It’s an amazing feeling, especially with all we’ve been through,” Gayle said about being commended. “We were clicking at the right time…I just think we have a great team chemistry.”
Graduate center Vladislav Goldin was another Wolverine who shined, posting 23 points and 12 rebounds against Texas A&M, one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. Goldin played under May for three seasons at Florida Atlantic, averaging over double figures in his final two years.
“I chose to be here because of the relationship (with May),” Goldin said after the win. “That’s something that I take pride in that we were able to build that relationship. I’m happy to be his player.”
“That’s where I wanted to start this program,” May said about Goldin. “If he wasn’t going to be in the NBA, then I thought this place would be really good for him with (the) resources and playing against Big 10 guys would be good for his long-term career…We want to win games, but also hand in hand prepare for their futures as well.”
Michigan basketball, the fifth seed in the South Region, will head to Atlanta for the Sweet 16 where it will face Auburn, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. The Maize and Blue will look to keep its gritty play over the past days as they rest up before next weekend.
“That’s the challenge around this time of year,” May said. “To block out the external waste, to stay in that foxhole with your teammates, staff, support staff and everyone else. You work since June to put your team in a position to do something enormous…We don’t have any regrets because we are content being at this point.”