5 things we learned from Dusty May press conference

The hire of Dusty May to be the Michigan basketball head coach wasn’t about winning the press conference, but the Wolverines, or rather, May, did that on Tuesday.

May was introduced and met with the media for the first time as Michigan basketball head coach. Warde Manuel fielded questions and talked about how May was his top target. He also talked about John Beilein, not necessarily as a candidate but that Beilein offered “extremely valuable insight.”

The new Michigan basketball head coach was as impressive on the podium, as his resume, which includes a Final Four appearance. Looking back, here’s what we learned about May and his plans for the Wolverines.

“Michigan basketball is going to be fun to watch”

Winning means more than anything. I could tolerate the Wolverines scoring 50 points a game if they were Big Ten champions, but there’s no doubt I’d love to see Beilein-type basketball return. That’s what Michigan will get in May.

He said his teams “will shoot too many 3s” but also said this: “We want to win championships but we want to be easy on the eyes and fun to watch. Watching Michigan basketball will be enjoyable.”

“We want to win championships, but we want to be easy on the eyes and fun to watch. Watching Michigan basketball will be enjoyable.” https://t.co/S6TYEj8LiC

— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) March 26, 2024

Over the past two seasons especially, Michigan basketball has been maddening. The fundamentals dropped off, there were too many mistakes and too much standing around on offense. That won’t happen under May.

Whether that leads to winning remains to be seen. Yet, May saying Michigan basketball is “going to (hopefully) score a lot of points” isn’t a bad thing for recruiting or bringing fans back to Crisler.

 May is offering John Beilein any role he wants

Basketball coaches know how elite John Beilein was at his craft and frankly, I’m not sure May is the Michigan basketball head coach with Beilein playing a role.

May was asked if Beilein could have a role in the program moving forward, to which May replied that Beilein could be part of the program in any capacity he wants. The man still loves the game and if he had some role as an admin, advising on all aspects of the program, well, it couldn’t hurt.

Michigan needs all hands on deck to get this program back on track and Beilein is one of the best college basketball coaches of all time. He’s the G.O.A.T at U-M and the fact that May is willing to embrace him says a lot.

It tells me that May is more concerned with winning than ego. That’s important and kind of rare.

High school recruiting will be an emphasis

May has used the transfer portal at FAU. He will have to at Michigan basketball too. It’s part of the game and as he said, “It’s not going anywhere.”

However, May has always focused more on high school recruiting. Two of the all-conference players Michigan basketball fans are hoping transfer to U-M were recruited and developed by May. The other is a transfer portal addition though, showing he can do both.

May said he prefers “younger players and continuity” which tells you about his recruiting philosophy. That’s how Beilein worked and it’s probably the most sustainable way to build a team.

It’s challening to keep players and it might be smart to steer clear of the five-stars who go to the NBA after one season, but recruiting in the 50-150 range, keeping, and developing that talent is going to be the key to success.

That’s why May is right for the job. He’s a developer but he also had a good eye for talent — one of Beilein’s most underrated talents.

You can’t forget about the portal and with a bunch of openings, maybe as many as 10, Michigan basketball will be active this offseason and hopefully less so in the future.

Invested in NIL

NIL has been a huge topic of conversation around the Michigan basketball job. Isaac Trotter of 247 Sports reported that Michigan promised more NIL support, plus an easing of admissions restrictions.

I’ll believe the second part when I see it. But we have already seen a stronger NIL push for Michigan. It should also be helped by May who said he spends about 25-30 percent of his time on NIL. Or he did at FAU. He wants his players “rewarded” for their hard work and it’s something he embraces.

In basketball, it’s essential for landing players in the portal, but at Michigan, I view it as a way to keep talented players, especially once May is able to build up the roster his way.

It’s good to hear it being talked about though. It’s vital to success and this offseason especially, it could have a critical role in whether the Wolverines can compete for the NCAA tournament next season.

The goal is win right away

Everyone understands this was an eight-win program. But Dusty May talked about winning early and there’s no reason that can’t happen. Sure, it would help if he added three all-conference players from FAU, but that’s not a slam dunk. They haven’t even entered the transfer portal.

Michigan basketball was bad last season. But FAU was bad before May showed up. Frankly, that doesn’t get talked about enough. The Owls had three seasons with 17 wins in their entire history before May got there. They have eight in 31 seasons with five coming in May’s six years (were 13-10 in COVID year), including his first season, which ended a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons and 10 in 11 years.

The fact that May took that program to the Final Four, without a single recruit ranked in the top 100, is all you should need to know. The dude is a winner. He eats, sleeps, and breathes basketball — just like John Beilein, and while it’s a lot of say he’s the second coming of Beilein, it sure feels like it.

And I for one won’t be surprised at all if Michigan is in the NCAA tournament next season. At the very least, the Wolverines will play winning basketball in 2024-25. May understands the importance of winning right away but he also knows how to achieve that objective.

Michigan knocked it out of the park.

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