Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May revealed why he turned down the Indiana coaching vacancy and signed a contract extension. The Wolverines have had a terrific bounce-back year with their new head coach. This team is 25-9 now and enters The Big Dance as Big Ten tournament champions. Michigan is a No. 5 seed in the South Region and will face UC San Diego on Thursday at 10 PM.
May is an alum of Indiana University and was a student manager under legendary Hoosiers head coach Bob Knight from 1996 to 2000. The Wolverines’ leader was believed to be a strong candidate for the Hoosiers’ vacancy but quickly confirmed his allegiance to Michigan basketball for the foreseeable future. In an interview on The Rich Eisen Show, May explained why he made this decision.
“My wife and I, we have two sons at Michigan now. My middle son Charlie’s a walk-on for us, and my youngest son Eli is a manager. So we’ve just found we’ve been really, really comfortable within the Ann Arbor community. Every interaction on campus with our administration has been unbelievable. Everyone here is committed to winning. I’m surrounded by greatness and excellence every day, and it’s just hard to leave that.”
Dusty May has already built Michigan basketball back up to national relevance
While the Wolverines’ former leader, Juwan Howard, had a stellar start to his tenure in Ann Arbor, the program did veer off toward the end. May inherited a team that was 8-24 overall last year and 3-17 in Big Ten play. Now the Wolverines are near the top of their loaded conference again. And big men Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin are the two players at the forefront of this resurgence.
The two 7-foot transfers have been fantastic this season, and both were named to All-Big Ten teams. The size of Michigan basketball’s frontline is ultimately a real problem for new opponents in March. While UC San Diego is having a phenomenal season, the fact that the oddsmakers have this matchup being so close might not age well. Clearly, many believe the Wolverines peaked in the Big Ten tournament and will not carry on that momentum.
That being said, Dusty May is used to being underestimated. The Wolverines’ first-year head coach has overachieved in the NCAA Tournament before, and he surely will in the near future. May has this program trending in the right direction, and his recent contract extension suggests that it’s only going to get better from here on out.
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