John Niyo: Michigan basketball ready for 'dynasty-building time'

INDIANAPOLIS — Terry Mills knew he had a front-row seat to watch history being made Monday night.

But he also had an invitation earlier in the day to share some of his own history, as Dusty May invited one of the stars from Michigan’s 1989 national championship team to speak to the current squad hours before they faced Connecticut in the national title game.

The 58-year-old Mills, now an analyst for UM radio broadcasts, said he kept the message “short and sweet,” talking about what that ‘89 championship meant to him and his teammates — some would be among the crowd of 70,720 at Lucas Oil Stadium that night — and the lifelong bonds that magical season created.

“And then I just told them I loved ‘em,” the Romulus, Mich., native added, “and I said, ‘You guys have made me proud. Let's go out and finish the deal.’ ”

That message was just one of many that resonated with this tight-knit group, which rolled to a runaway Big Ten regular-season title, a program-record 37 wins and — finally, after 37 years — that elusive second national title for the Wolverines.

“I feel like that (speech) was probably the defining moment that we knew we had to do it — for the school, for the alumni and for the players that came before us that got so close,” said Will Tschetter, the fifth-year senior who had more invested in the program than anyone on Michigan’s roster. “And this championship is as much theirs as it is ours.”

Monday’s triumph over UConn, a program that was vying for its third national title in four years, was the first for a Big Ten school since Michigan State won it all in Indianapolis in 2000. But it also ended a string of heartache for the Wolverines, who’d lost their last four NCAA finals — in 1992 and ’93 with the Fab Five, as well as in 2013 and 2018.

John Beilein was the head coach for the latter two in that list. And the man who’d helped revive Michigan’s dormant hoops program nearly two decades ago was courtside for Monday’s finale, too, beaming with pride about what this championship signified.

“I don't even know what to feel,” said Beilein, whose Wolverines had ended a decade-long NCAA Tournament drought back in 2009, his second season in Ann Arbor. “You’re a little envious, you know what I mean? But it’s just a great thing for the university, and for Dusty and his program. … It's incredible what a great men's basketball program can do to a university. And this is a perfect place to do it.”

They say there is a time and place for everything. But at the time Michigan found itself looking for a new head coach two years ago, it was Beilein’s own sense of place that helped athletic director Warde Manuel land May, who’d become a hot commodity after taking Florida Atlantic to a Final Four in 2023. Beilein offered to sit in on the in-person interview in Fort Lauderdale, and he and May spent the evening together discussing the job.

“There were some rumors out there, you know, that Michigan was a football school and that we weren't interested basketball,” recalled Beilein on Monday night, as the maize-and-blue confetti fell moments after the final horn. “And I just told him, ‘Dusty, that's completely false.’ I had four ADs, three presidents, and they were 100 percent behind me from Day 1.”

Back then, it was the facility upgrades, including $75 million spent on Crisler Center renovations and a new player development center, that signaled the administration’s support. Now it’s an array of things, but particularly the financial backing necessary to compete in today’s NIL era.

May, 49, estimates he spent a quarter of his time at FAU courting donors and boosters, and his first year at Michigan probably wasn’t much different. Nimari Burnett, one of the holdovers from that 2023-24 roster, recalls May meeting with that team the day he was introduced as head coach, “and then he went right to work on the alumni and raising money for the school.”

He had no choice, really. The basketball NIL budget was a paltry six-figure fund before May arrived, and Michigan was coming off not only a disastrous 8-24 season but also the football team’s national championship. Needless to say, hoops was a tough sell.

But May quickly drummed up more money to build a competitive roster that exceeded expectations in his first season, more than tripling the win total and advancing to the Sweet 16. The advent of NCAA revenue sharing and a new contract for May — who used a coaching vacancy at Indiana, his alma mater, for leverage — helped push that budget above $10 million this season.

“We felt like there was a great upside with Michigan and their passion for athletics,” said May, who also surrounded himself with a bright, young staff of assistants. “There are a lot of places that if you win, ‘then we'll get it for you.’ And there are other places that say, ‘We'll get it for you so you can win.’ Michigan was a little bit in between, where I think a lot of the academic institutions were, late to the NIL game for a number of reasons.”

They’re not just in the game now. though. They’re winning at it, as May and his staff have proven to be shrewd investors in addition to their obvious skills with player development. The Year 1 success with twin-tower transfers Danny Wolf (Yale) and Vlad Goldin (FAU) paved the way for this season’s frontcourt trio of Aday Mara, Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg, all of whom improved their NBA draft stock while singing Michigan's praises.

Yet it’s the chemistry they all developed — “I can’t even name one instance where we split even for a second,” Tschetter says — that was the real marvel here.

“And I think it all starts with the culture, and that culture change when Dusty came to Michigan,” said Nate Forbes, the founder and chairman of UM’s Champions Circle collective. “I think it’s everything. I mean, you get a guy like that, who I think is one of the best coaches in all of sports ... He just embodies everything we believe in as a university.”

Belief in the basketball program should keep the money spigot flowing for May, whose 64 wins the last two seasons tied an NCAA record for a coach at a new school, matching John Calipari (2009-11) at Kentucky. And with May's affable approach and adaptable coaching style, the recruiting pitch likely will hit a much higher note now at Michigan, and not just in the portal.

May’s first blue-chip prep recruit, Trey McKenney, is poised for a starring role next season after a terrific freshman campaign. And the Wolverines made another five-star splash last weekend when Brandon McCoy Jr., a coveted point guard from California, announced his UM commitment during the Fab Five “alt-cast” at the Final Four. That vaulted Michigan’s incoming class to No. 2 nationally — between Duke and Michigan State — according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. And to many around the program, it was just another sign of what’s to come.

“Once the resources started coming in, the sky's the limit,” said Mills, smiling, as he admired the scene Monday night. “And I’ll tell you what, this is not the only one they're gonna get. I think we're on the right track. It’s dynasty-building time.”