In his two seasons coaching the Michigan men’s basketball team, coach Dusty May has been no stranger to the transfer portal.
In fact, every Wolverines player to start multiple games in May’s tenure has been a transfer. This year, No. 2 Michigan starts four May-recruited transfers and another from before May’s time: graduate guard Nimari Burnett.
A rivalry matchup with now-No. 10 Michigan State last week was as good a time as ever for rival fans to attack the Wolverines, and the high saturation of transfers among its starters was one target. Spartan fans took the chance to villainize Michigan’s transfers, insinuating that joined the team for financial reasons in contrast with Michigan State’s largely homegrown lineup. Three days removed from a season-defining win for the Wolverines, May pushed back against that.
“I know people outside of our tribe will call our guys these derogatory names, mercenaries and whatnot,” May said Monday. “We have a group of guys that love playing with each other. They appreciate Michigan, and when you see how connected they are, I don’t know how you would classify them as guys playing just for money when they all sacrificed a great deal of money to do what they’re doing together.”
Last offseason’s professional prospects weren’t crystal clear for every Michigan transfer, but graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg turned down a potential NBA contract to come back to school. And while his players are earning money through NIL while in Ann Arbor, May isn’t a fan of the word ‘mercenary.’
“Yes, especially (in) year two,” May said on whether he takes the use of the word personally. “ … I think everyone would rather us just come in and sign a bunch of freshmen and lose and try to grow it organically, but our job from day one was to win, and so we brought in a balanced class.”
May’s freshman classes have been relatively modest in size so far, taking four recruits in each of his first two classes compared to 10 total transfers across both years. The transfer portal might have taken priority, but it’s worked in the Wolverines’ favor.
Former transfers like forward Danny Wolf and center Vlad Goldin were the driving force behind Michigan’s turnaround season last year. This season, the Wolverines’ four leading scores are transfers from this past offseason.
May and his staff are still developing players they recruited like sophomore guard L.J. Cason, freshman guard Trey McKenney and redshirt freshman forward Oscar Goodman. But while Cason and McKenney are contributors to winning now and Goodman shows promise for the future, those underclassmen couldn’t lead a top-5 team on their own. In May’s eyes, utilizing the transfer portal so far has just meant putting his team in the best position to win.
As the most highly-touted of Michigan’s transfers this year, Lendeborg has lived up to expectations and helped the Wolverines win plenty of games already. But he’s also been a key part of the team’s culture and chemistry.
“I’ve never been around anyone like him and I’m incredibly appreciative of how much he cares about his teammates as well,” May said Monday. “I’ll say it again, he doesn’t act like a mercenary every day. He acts like he’s completely engrossed and embedded in our program, our culture and winning for others.”
Culture has been a common theme across May’s comments all season. He’s praised his team’s togetherness and camaraderie, and he’s emphasized how much they enjoy playing together. The players have echoed that sentiment. Although it’s easy for culture to be a buzzword, Michigan’s cohesion has been evident in its play.
On offense, the Wolverines gelled relatively quickly. It didn’t take long for Michigan’s transfers to figure out how to play as a unit and complement each other’s playstyles, scoring 100 or more points in seven of its first 12 games. On defense, too, the Wolverines picked up a switch-heavy scheme dependent on communication with ease, currently ranking as the No. 1 defense in the country per KenPom. It’s hard to do that with a roster of new faces if there isn’t strong culture and chemistry in place.
Michigan currently has several key players who could take the leap to the NBA next year. The Wolverines have four recruits signed to come in as freshmen, and it’s unclear how much May will use the transfer portal next offseason as his own recruits continue to develop. But for now, May wants to make clear Michigan’s transfers aren’t just players for hire.
