In college basketball, a program is only as good as its coach. The sport has been defined by larger-than-life personalities at the end of the bench forever. Even in this current “players era” of college basketball, it’s still all about the coach.
In 24 months, Dusty May transformed Michigan’s program from the despair of the worst season in program history into its first title in 37 years.
Michigan basketball won a title, and this National Championship is obviously a Michigan story. This accomplishment, two years into a new regime, is a product of what John Beilein built and Juwan Howard added onto. The program was on life support, but there was something to revive.
There would be no two-year turnaround without Beilein turning Michigan basketball from a program no one cared about into one that belongs late in the NCAA Tournament.
When I started this site as a student in 2008, nobody cared enough about Michigan basketball to even imagine something like this. Now, there’s an entire new generation of fans who grew up believing this could be possible. As someone who has watched just about every minute of every game for decades, including two title games, I’m not sure I ever really believed that until Thanksgiving.
That’s when it dawned on me what was happening here. Michigan has the perfect coach for the perfect moment, and it was in the midst of something special.
This is a Michigan title, but it’s impossible to ignore the Dusty May of it all. This is May’s story, and it’s still an early chapter. May hasn’t set a foot wrong in two years in Ann Arbor, and somehow his future in the sport might be even brighter.
The sport is throwing coaches to the curb faster than ever as it changes. Yet, somehow, May has stayed ahead of the curve and is solving problems that many of his peers don’t even care to try.
His recruiting and retention at Florida Atlantic should have been impossible. Turning Michigan from 8 wins to three banners in 24 months should have been even more difficult. Although he isn’t as young as Dan Hurley thinks he looks, he’s on a rocket ship to the top of this sport.
There are other rising stars in the industry, but May feels like he’s on a trajectory matched by very few. He’s a generational star who is a couple of more seasons away from being mentioned with the Stevenses and Donovans that dominated the sport when he was just a young assistant.
His career can go wherever he wants to take it. Michigan fans will hope that lasts forever in Ann Arbor — and May turning down North Carolina is a good start — but it’s clear that the Wolverines have one of the sport’s very best and are along for the ride.
It’s not going to slow down anytime soon.
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