{"id":858890,"date":"2026-04-07T12:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/858890\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T12:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:41:16","slug":"dusty-may-michigans-biggest-star-is-college-basketballs-new-gangsta-in-a-quarter-zip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/858890\/","title":{"rendered":"Dusty May, Michigan\u2019s biggest star, is college basketball\u2019s new gangsta (in a quarter zip)"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 The golf carts were ready outside the Michigan locker room early Tuesday morning. One was for Wolverine players like star forward Yaxel Lendeborg, his shirt soaked with water as he bear-hugged the school\u2019s newest trophy, and point guard Elliot Cadeau, the Final Four\u2019s Most Outstanding Player, still sporting ski goggles the way champions do to survive locker room celebrations. But their wheels stayed in park, unable to rip down the carpeted hallways of Lucas Oil Stadium and toward the victors\u2019 news conference following their 69-63 win over UConn<\/a> because the other golf cart remained empty.<\/p>\n

The game\u2019s biggest star was missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019d Coach go?\u201d a Michigan staffer in a maize pullover asked the driver, in an attempt to locate one Dusty May.<\/p>\n

If this transient world of college sports has revealed anything, it\u2019s that nothing goes \u2014 not those golf carts, and especially not a smash-and-grab through the March Madness bracket like Michigan\u2019s dominant run \u2014 without Coach. The central character. The one whose name, image and likeness might appear on unlicensed apparel that college girls love, but will make his own sons cringe. Someone who can strangle the spotlight away from the fervor of a rival fan base, and, even if unwillingly, also the student-athletes who are here today and gone \u2026 later today.<\/p>\n

Strange, isn\u2019t it? Even in a college basketball season that turned NBA GMs into tank drivers just so they could have the right to select one of the harvest of lottery picks available in the 2026 draft class, the main attractions roamed the sidelines in quarter zips. (Or, if you\u2019re UCLA\u2019s Mick Cronin \u2014\u00a0stalked his players\u2019 living nightmares while wearing custom suits and ties.) In an era that provides more freedom and finances to a workforce filled with 20-somethings, middle-aged coaches (still) are the ones supplying the best material.<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s national title game, a completely unappealing experience, it was the temperament of UConn\u2019s Dan Hurley that gave the viewing audience something to care about. Would he crash out and pull a Geno, accusing the entire Michigan sideline of not shaking his hand during pregame? No one knew, but it was worth waiting for rather than witnessing both teams abuse the art of the jump shot. (Michigan made only 2 of 15 from 3, while UConn shot just 31 percent overall).<\/p>\n

May doesn\u2019t have that kind of magnetism; the camera doesn\u2019t follow him like it does Hurley. Nor does he have the presence of a Tom Izzo, who made a scene this season in kicking one out of his former players from a Michigan State game. And he doesn\u2019t possess the stateliness of a Bill Self, with whom he shares top billing in an upcoming four-part Paramount+ series that chronicles the seasons at Kansas and Michigan.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s kind of, well, normal. But he\u2019s also the biggest reason Michigan is national champion.<\/p>\n

“These guys have done it all year. When one side of the ball was letting us down, the other side picked us up.”@umichbball<\/a>‘s Dusty May on his team’s championship-level defense all season pic.twitter.com\/umh3YyiqND<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 49 years old? He looks really young. I thought he was younger than that,\u201d Hurley mused about May in the lead-up to Monday\u2019s game. \u201cForty-nine, I was surprised at that. I thought he would be more in his early 40s. I thought he might have been like 40 or 41. His hair, and he looks great. But he\u2019s one of the best coaches. He\u2019ll be one of the best coaches for \u2014 hopefully, this is the first of many meetings in these big spots between me and Dusty. He\u2019s excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leading mid-major Florida Atlantic to the 2023 Final Four, May needed just two years to turn Michigan around, a near worst-to-first rally from 8-24 (3-17 in the Big Ten) in 2024 to 37-3 (19-1) this season. This revival should give Cignetti vibes. The face of college football, Curt Cignetti transformed a forgotten Indiana football program through the transfer portal and also led his team to a national title.<\/p>\n

But unlike Cignetti, who can combust when he\u2019s not looking completely bored, or even May\u2019s mentor, Bob Knight, the most well-known coach in all of Indiana sports, he\u2019s not a caricature of a madman. May is normal. And he gets attention by being so calm. Just like he did in January, going viral by sitting down, crossing his legs and ignoring\/trolling the Izzone student section at Michigan State that greeted him with boos.<\/p>\n

He appears as a nice guy, unless of course you get lost in his perfectly coifed hair and ageless skin and forget that May might be the biggest gangsta in the Big Ten.<\/p>\n

As May compiled this roster by signing the likes of Cadeau and Lendeborg out of the transfer portal, he also pulled center Aday Mara (formerly of UCLA) and forward Morez Johnson Jr. (formerly of Illinois) from conference rivals. It\u2019s no wonder conference coaches denied May as the 2026 Big Ten Coach of the Year, although he earned the media\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just an amazing person. It\u2019s amazing to be here around him. I\u2019m super happy that I have him as a coach,\u201d Mara said. \u201c(The Michigan coaching staff) really changed my life. It took me a couple of months to enjoy basketball again when I (came) here. But now I\u2019m just, like, happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not as happy as the people in Ann Arbor, Mich., especially the ones who see May, er, differently. For the national championship game, there was a cheeky shirt popular among the Michigan student section: Several women could be seen wearing a \u201cDusty May Is Your Daddy\u201d tee.<\/p>\n

\u201cUmm \u2026 I don\u2019t \u2026 no comment,\u201d laughed Charlie May, when asked about his father being the inspiration for such fashion.<\/p>\n

\"Michigan<\/p>\n

\n Michigan coach Dusty May watches \u201cOne Shining Moment\u201d after the Wolverines defeated UConn on Monday night to win the national championship. (Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Next season, when Michigan is back near the top of the college basketball rankings, even with a heap of new transfers, May will be the biggest reason again. And the best draw, as it is with Hurley and other young coaches filling the void left by some of the game\u2019s biggest personalities who\u2019ve since become retirees.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, it took a few moments, but Michigan staffers tracked down May for his waiting golf cart. May, with his championship hat turned backwards, plopped down in the passenger seat and released a sigh. Then, and finally then, could Michigan go.<\/p>\n