Michigan head coach Dusty May chats with Seth Davis and Andy Katz on The Hoops HQ Show about Yaxel Lendeborg’s ascent, learning to cope without L.J. Cason and the Big Ten’s national title drought.
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Seth Davis: We are thrilled to be joined on the Hoops HQ show by Michigan head coach, Dusty May, off to his second Final Four at his second school. Dusty, thanks so much for joining me and Andy. Watching your team against Tennessee, it’s a big game against a good team. And frankly, you made them look like a high school JV squad. I mean, you absolutely eviscerated them. You’ve done that several times this season. Thinking back to the Gonzaga game in Las Vegas. As a head coach, with all the work that goes into recruiting and roster construction and practice and everything that goes into preparing for a game, what is it like to be on that sideline and watch your team playing at that level?
Dusty May: It’s a lot of fun. I’ll be honest. And we have such a unique, uniquely talented group. There’s at least three to five possessions a game where the coaching staff and myself will just tap each other on the leg and say, did he really do that? Or did you see that play? And maybe it’s a highlight play or maybe it’s just an invisible play, but our team intelligence, our collective basketball IQ is as good as any team I’ve ever been around. So, these guys are a joy because they’re all about each other and they find solutions daily.
Andy Katz: Dusty, I’ve had the privilege of being at both of your Elite Eights to go to the Final Four – was there at Madison Square Garden with Florida Atlantic and then Sunday in Chicago. And I marvel at your even keel approach. This one, you guys were projected to get there. How do you compare the two experiences? Because from the outside, you looked pretty much the same.
May: They felt night and day different, Andy. And the first time, it was shock. You’re just in the moment and you’re competing and then it ends and you’re going to the Final Four. And my greatest moments are always in the locker room, on the bus, things like that with our guys. But I do feel like we were more content or happy to be there. We didn’t manage the process of going into the Final Four the first time. So, this time, I was so conscientious of, if we do advance, making sure that us adults manage expectations, our thought process, our messaging going forward. Because it’s so pivotal to enjoy it. But also preparing to turn the page and continue to improve this week, to continue staying about the process and whatnot. So, just didn’t want to let our guys down by making it too much about just getting to the Final Four and making it to Indianapolis.
This was a step that we expected. I was really, really happy that we didn’t have the water out in the locker rooms. We didn’t have a celebration other than what we’ve done numerous times this year where we simply applaud each other for their effort and performance and keep it moving.
Seth: Dusty, now in your second year at Michigan, and this is the second year that you’ve basically turned over, not necessarily your entire roster, but pretty close to it. And it’s worked. I mean, all you have to do is watch Michigan play and you can see the pieces fit together – both in terms of their skills and their mindsets. And this is the great challenge, as you well know, in 2026 in college basketball. Roster turnover has never been higher for all of the obvious reasons.
Everybody’s trying to figure out this secret sauce. What do you seem to know? Maybe not that everybody doesn’t know, but everybody’s trying to know.
May: Yeah, I don’t think we have a secret sauce. I think that, even now, for example, the McDonald’s games are going on and we’re still actively recruiting high school players. Now, with the coaching changes, there are guys that are already in the portal or graduate transfers that are already in the portal. And the staff was telling me yesterday how many calls they received from agents of those players saying, “Wow, we would love to play like that.”
And so our identity, because of our team last year, and it took a lot of intentional effort by everyone, but our identity became part of our recruiting process. The way we passed the ball, the way we shared it, the way everyone was involved. You know, we don’t sell that if you’re one of our best players, you’re gonna get the shots and everything’s gonna be run through you. I’ve actually felt guilty at times this year that we didn’t run more actions and stuff for Yaxel (Lendeborg) because we wanted to be in flow and everyone be involved and simply take what the game gave us, whether it was a matchup advantage, a size advantage, or just an advantage we created off of each other or set. And, so I think that’s a big part of it, that we’re attracting the right guys and then we’re never going to deviate from what we think is the most enjoyable way to coach and most enjoyable way to play, which are guys that love ball or love to compete.
And they want to do it together and appreciate the sacrifice and contributions of those around them. Because anytime, if you watch our film session the guy that makes the shot, there’s almost zero praise for him. All of the attention and praise goes to the guys that set the screen, that made a cut, that simply outran their man to occupy a defender. So that’s how we are 365 days out of the year.
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Andy: Dusty, you’ve now had a significant sample size to play and practice without L.J. Cason. What have you learned about this group without that key member of the rotation?
May: Well, the most disappointing part was that he was playing so well. His growth and development as a human being, as a basketball player, was making us proud as coaches just to see him doing this in real time and to see the day-to-day growth. But he goes out, and obviously there are certain positions that we couldn’t afford to lose. And obviously with budgetary constraints and whatnot, you don’t have three of each.
But, it’s given these other guys a great opportunity to expand their role and their game and their responsibility. Trey McKinney was thrown into the fire, Roddy Gill into point guard duties. And at first we were trying to create ways to alleviate pressure. Then finally we just said, you know what, these guys are up to the challenge. They need to just be a version of Elliott. We need to be able to run the same stuff and we just need to work with them and help them get the repetitions and create the environment so they can improve.
Now, when Elliott (Cadeau) goes out there’s very little concern because we have Yaxel, Morez (Johnson Jr.) and Aday (Mara). All these guys are such smart playmakers that we just recreate ourselves, reinvent ourselves a little bit, but we just keep playing.
Seth: You mentioned Yaxel Lendeborg. Here’s a guy who played 11 varsity games in high school and now he’s the best player of the Final Four, maybe the best player in college basketball. What is it like coaching him and how do you account for his journey? Have you ever seen anything like this?
May: No, it’s fascinating. And, obviously, we played against him at UAB and they maximized his skill set for that stage of his career, but he just continues to improve. And there’s times when I’ll say to the staff, he must have picked that up in 2K. I’ve never seen him do that in practice, in a workout or even work on it. He’s just such a quick processor. And even though he’s a little bit older for NBA draft standards from what they typically like to draft in the top 10, he’s never relied on raw athleticism. To me, his superpower is his ability to process information and now more than ever that’s valued.
And when he plays the point, he makes the right, simple decisions. The only time he makes poor decisions in our mind is when he lacks aggression. And typically between his teammates and the staff reminding him to be aggressive, then he shifts into another gear and goes to work. But just thinking back to where he was a month ago, two months ago, his growth and development, the staff has done an amazing job of pouring into him. His support system has kept him focused. But he’s unique and he’s special and, man, he’s fun to coach.
Andy: Obviously, Dusty, you’ve been locked into the Big Ten for the last three months. But, throughout the course of the season, Michigan and Arizona have been the two most impressive teams. Obviously, Duke was the No. 1 overall seed and Houston had its moments, and Iowa State, UConn and St. John’s. But Michigan and Arizona, the two most impressive teams. I don’t think I could get any argument from that in the way in which they won, the margin of victory and all that. How much did you sort of keep tabs on how they were playing as you guys were going in these parallel lives and then ultimately meeting here in the semis?
May: Well, before I was a player and before I was a coach, I was a fan and I’m still a big fan of college basketball. And so I watched them play several times this year and I have close friends in that league. And I know Tommy, I mean, I have a lot of respect for him as a person and as a coach and as a human. And, so yeah, they don’t have weaknesses: they’re physically mature, they’re mentally mature, they’re connected as a group. And even their freshmen aren’t really freshmen, age-wise or experience-wise, those guys are.seasoned veterans when it comes to playing important basketball games. You think about (Brayden) Buries’ international experience and the level he’s played at. And Jaden Bradley has just continued to improve every year. I played him when he was in Alabama and we played him when he was in Arizona. And every year he improves his game and his efficiency on both sides of the ball. But they’re daunting. And I haven’t even mentioned (Motiejus) Krivas, who I think is one of the best centers in America. And they have several guys that I haven’t mentioned yet like Koa Peat, that are gonna play in the NBA. So, I think, like us, they have a really talented group, but also a team that is deep. They sacrifice for each other and you don’t know who’s gonna be the star on a night to night basis.
Seth: Dusty, you’re a native of Terre Haute, Indiana. You went to Indiana University, you’re a Hoosier, and now you’re going back to Indiana in the Final Four. So I’ll give you a two-part question. First of all, what is that like going home? You must be getting hit up for tickets left and right. And also, as has been well documented, you were a student manager on the Indiana basketball team when Bob Knight was a coach. So we got to ask you your favorite Bob Knight story.
May: Well, I was born in Terre Haute. I was raised in Greene County, Indiana, and Greene County is a rural community that is obsessed with basketball and hoops.
As far as being a student manager for Coach Knight, I can’t tell the juiciest stories, but I have nothing but fond memories of the experience I had there and what I learned. There’s no way I would be coaching now at this level if it wasn’t for being able to simply be a sponge there and learn from Coach Knight and his staff and the players and everyone around us. So very, very grateful that that experience opened the door for me to get into college coaching.
As far as going home, fortunately, my wife Anna handles all of that and I’m at the point now where if even someone mentions tickets, I say, “Do you not have Anna’s number?” And so we’re trying to help our players with the same thing because we get texts and calls from people that we don’t know very well asking for tickets for their friends. So, it can be exhausting, but once we get to Indianapolis, we need to have all that stuff done so we can lock in on our responsibilities.
Andy: So Dusty, you’re a Big Ten guy and this is this elephant in the room. I don’t think it should define the league because they’ve had multiple teams that have played for the title since 2000. It’s just kind of bad luck. But, now we got two Big Ten teams in the Final Four in Illinois and you guys. What are your thoughts on the 26-year drought that, potentially, if you guys and Illinois win on Saturday, it will end no matter who wins Monday night?
May: Well, we put ourselves in position to end that drought. Obviously, when you’re talking about the number one team over the last 25 years, it’s not factoring in the depth of a league. You could have nine of the top 10 teams and if the top team is from a different league, it’s not an indictment on your conference. I do think that, you know, much like football was able to overtake the SEC recently and win three straight, I do think basketball is knocking on the door and we’ll be in a better position each and every year going forward.
But, as of now, we’re not adding any extra pressure to carry the torch for the Big Ten. We’re trying to do it for the University of Michigan, first and foremost. But we do have a responsibility to knock that door down for the Big Ten.
Seth: Dusty, last thing, towards the end of your win over Tennessee, you had a guard coming off the bench named Charlie May who stroked a great three pointer. And Andy and I have been working the phones, you know, we’re two very good reporters. It’s our understanding that his mother’s very upset that he’s not getting more minutes. What does this kid have to do to get more minutes?
May: So, two stories on that. Last year, my wife was on some social media platform and they said there’s a rumor that Coach May is sleeping with the mother of one of his players. And she fell for it. She actually fell for it. I looked at her and I said, “I have a confession to make. It’s Charlie May’s mother.” And if you knew Anna, you would understand completely.
He (Charlie) was never known as a shooter. He was a good defender. He has good size. He has good IQ. He had a tendon tear in his thumb and he came back and, immediately, after sitting out for about two months, he was shooting the cover off the ball. I compared it to the movie The Rookie where the kid had a break in his arm and came back and went up to the minor leagues for the Cubs, throwing 105-mph heaters. So, I equated Charlie’s successful 3-point attempts this year to the tendon surgery in his thumb.
No, what an experience for him. I asked him what it felt like and he said he blacked out. So just to have that one moment, these guys are walk-ons. They do the weightlifting and strongman competitions all summer just to be a part of the group. For our guys to build a lead where those guys can come in and have a few minutes of that is pretty cool for the group.
Andy: I loved that this happened for Greg Gard’s son too this season. And you see the reaction from the bench. And that you can see as a dad, how much the players you coach respect your son and want him to succeed. I’m on the peripheral seeing this with Wisconsin and you guys – am I right that you love seeing your other players react to your son hitting that shot?
May: Yeah, I actually watched that on film and saw the joy from them. And actually that’s one of the reasons I didn’t want my sons to play for me. One of many reasons is I wanted them to go play for another coach and be impacted by another staff because they know me and our staff so well.
But, I’ve always encouraged him that there’s never gonna be any reporting back to me what’s said. Look, they’re gonna make fun of me. They’re gonna make fun of the things I say. That’s part of being on a team and your coach saying crazy things sometimes. So, I always encouraged him to just be a member of the team. And when he’s at home, he’s my son, but he’s never my son that’s a player around the facility. And I do think that that was kind of a stamp that he’s earned their trust and respect that he’s never reporting back. And he’s one of them while he’s a player for the University of Michigan. And hopefully he’s never felt like he’s an outsider because he was my son. But, really, really cool moment for him. I know he’ll remember for the rest of his life and I know his mom was proud.
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