Michigan coach Dusty May on raising NIL funds: 'We hit exactly where we thought would be the upside in year one'
Michigan Wolverines basketball first-year head coach Dusty May took the job in March and hit the ground running. He brought in an entirely new coaching staff and nine new players (six transfers, three freshmen). He couldn’t build the roster without NIL funds, though, and that was one of his first priorities after flying into Ann Arbor and getting to work.
May asked Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel about some hot-button issues during the interview process — admissions and NIL. May noted that the word on social media was that the Wolverines couldn’t get transfers admitted and had no NIL money, but he found out those things weren’t representative of reality.
“As far as NIL, there was a baseline number, and then there was potential for growth,” May said on The HUGE Show with host Bill Simonson. “And we hit exactly where we thought would be the upside in year one. Obviously, we still have a long way to go, but we got to where we needed to be.”
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May met with Michigan donors across the country to generate interest and money for NIL in order to build his roster.
“Check one was to raise NIL funds, get people involved that could help,” May said. “We did the national tour. I think the first probably five days, I didn’t go sit in the recruits’ homes — I went to donors, I went to people that liked basketball, that cared about Michigan and wanted us to win so we could figure out a way for us to be successful.
“Then once we had a baseline, it was time to recruit, because without that you’re not going to be very successful in today’s climate.”
The process was a success, with the Wolverines ranking ninth in the country in On3’s Team Transfer Portal Rankings. May is all for his Michigan players profiting, although he noted that money wasn’t the No. 1 reason they came to Ann Arbor.
“Obviously, the guys we signed, they wanted to be at Michigan,” May explained. “They just weren’t going to come for free. They would come for a fraction.
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“I don’t know how many athletic departments generate revenue, but there are a few they generate a lot, and the players have value. Without a doubt, they should be able to capitalize on that, so I’m happy for them. But obviously, we need a sustainable structure, which I think will move in that direction.
“But yeah, there aren’t any of the players that we were recruiting that could contribute right away that would come for nothing. So we had to raise money, and then once we developed a little bit of steam and momentum, then we were able to raise more, more, more, just to continue to fill out our roster.”
Michigan has 11 new players on its roster, including walk-ons, and has worked hard to build cohesiveness ahead of the 2024-25 season, which begins Nov. 4 against Cleveland State.
“First and foremost, spending time with them and getting them to respect each other’s strengths and even respect their weaknesses,” May said of how the chemistry has been built. “We all have our own unique gifts. And for a team to function at the highest level, we all need to live in our strengths and try to smooth out our weaknesses and make sure that those things aren’t detrimental to the team.
“But we have good guys who work hard and want to do the right things, so as a teacher, coach, those are the guys you want to work with. You can hold them accountable to something that they’re not doing really well and they want to change. They don’t want to fight you on it just to fight you.
“We have a group that’s grown. Do we have flaws right now? Absolutely. We still have a lot to work on, and a lot of those things you don’t know for sure until you see someone else. So we’re anxious to see some opponents, and to see exactly where we are.”
