Dusty May discusses areas of improvement for 2025-26 and belief that 'we're going to play for national championships'

Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May orchestrated an incredible turnaround in his first season with the program. The Wolverines went 8-24 under Juwan Howard in 2023-24 but stacked 27 wins, won a Big Ten Tournament title and made the Sweet 16 under May this past year.

May and his staff will conduct a full autopsy of the season once the dust settles on the transfer portal, but he already has a few areas in mind that he wants his team to improve on in 2025-26.

“I think we can pass the ball even better than we did this year,” May admitted on the Zach Gelb Show. “We had another good assist year, and I think we played really good team basketball, but I think we can do it at an even higher level, play with much more rhythm and pace offensively.

“And then defensively, we made great strides from last summer to the end of the year. By March, we were a really good defensive team.

“And the last thing would be rebounding. When you watch these teams tonight, they’re elite offensive and defensive rebounding teams. I think that’s the commonality between all efficient offenses, whether you shoot a bunch of mid-ranges like these teams do, whatever the case, if you get your shots back, you have a chance to be elite offensively.”

While May can’t yet comment on transfer portal additions who haven’t signed with the program, Michigan is set to have better playmaking and passing from the point guard spot next season with North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau coming in. The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder averaged 6.2 assists to go along with his 9.4 points per game last season, leading an offense that ranked 21st nationally on Kenpom.

The Wolverines were a great defensive team last year, finishing 12th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. The rebounding piece May mentioned is perhaps most important, though. Michigan was solid on the offensive glass, grabbing 33.2 percent of its own missed shots (79th in the country), but not elite. May has stressed throughout his time in Ann Arbor that only when his group becomes top-tier in that area that it will reach its offensive potential.

While there will be a lot of roster turnover from last season to this coming year, May is happy with the way his culture was implemented.

“Just the amount of time that our staff puts in with our players, the authenticity of our staff in general, I think, really helps,” the Michigan coach said.

“All of these guys are looking for the same thing: a place where they can thrive individually, enjoy it collectively and where they’re improving and around great people. I think that’s the same at any level. Obviously, the financial piece has changed the game the last few years, but I think all these guys are looking for the same place — an opportunity to be their absolute best.”

May said he and his staff haven’t changed their approach much in recent years despite the rise of the transfer portal, which includes defections from key players.

“Maybe a little bit, subconsciously,” he explained. “We’re very intentional about telling the truth every single day, about enjoying working with these guys and creating a real collaboration and partnership. That’s probably the thing that we take the most pride in: Our staff collaborates really well together, and then we also allow our players to be a part of that with the decision-making processes with just about everything we do.

“We’re very committed to our processes, we’re very committed to doing it together and I think when you recruit high-achieving, intelligent people, they want to be a part of the process and respect the ultimate decisions as long as they were a part of the process.”

Dusty May wasn’t surprised at Michigan’s success last season and is building for the future

Heading into the season, May and his staff believed Michigan could have a good team. There were bumps in the road and the Wolverines grew throughout the year, but that prediction turned about to be spot on.

“Last summer, we felt like we had a chance to be good,” he said. “When you watch your team play, obviously there are always some strengths and weaknesses, but there were several times I asked the staff, ‘We got a chance to be really good, don’t we?’

“And with that, if you can compete for a Big Ten championship, and we were in contention until the last week of the season for the regular-season championship, that usually puts you in position to win some NCAA Tournament games and position to advance.

“So, we were confident. We had size, we had good, solid depth, we had some veteran guys. But you just never know how guys are going to respond to each other over a five-month season. It’s difficult, especially with the travel and the amount of stress and anxiety that comes with all these new things that are a part of our game now.

“But the one thing about our staff: The temperature never changes, we’re pretty consistent with our approach every day. I think our players know that it’s a safe place to learn, and we’re all about getting better.”

May was asked if there’s any pressure on him to deliver more results so that his trip to the Final Four at Florida Atlantic in 2023 isn’t the highlight of his career.

“My pressure comes from, I’m a pleaser at heart,” May said. “It’s making the people that made the decision to hire me, making sure that I do a good job for them and everyone that believed in us.

“But as far as my own internal pressure, it’s not like I feel pressure to make a Final Four. I believe we’re going to. I believe we’re going to play for national championships. So the pressure is more just in the week of preparation, just trying to beat a single team and make sure you never lose a game because of something that you weren’t prepared for. Those are my internal pressures.

“But I have so much loyalty to those that decide … I remember our first year at FAU, we lost a couple games. I called [now-Georgia head coach] Mike White and said, ‘Man, I feel so bad for [Mike’s brother and FAU athletic director] Brian [White]. We’ve lost two or three in a row, he made the decision to hire me.’ And he said, ‘Man, Brian’s gonna be fine, you just coach your team,’ so that was good advice.

“But yeah, there’s not the pressure to make this, because I am really process-oriented. I enjoy the work. I think we have to prepare for this every single day and trust that it’s gonna happen.”