2024 basketball coaching search

1 hour and 49 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, and introducing Champions Circle, the NIL fund keeping our team together.

1. Basketball Bits

Starts at 1:00

Seth is once again the biggest dork. Will Tschetter is returning, Terrance Williams II hit the portal and declared for the NBA draft (¯\_(ツ)_/¯), and Dusty May has made some assistant coaching hires. Mike Boynton and Akeem Miskdeen have joined the staff. These moves seem like they’re recruiting focused. All three of the big three from FAU are in the portal, Nick Boyd released a big list of schools that did not have Michigan on it. Michigan should get Davis and Goldin. Have you met Louisville’s fanbase? What about the rest of Michigan’s roster? Brian gives his guess on 10-11 roster spots. 

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]

1 hour and 58 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, and introducing Champions Circle, the NIL fund keeping our team together.

1. The Hiring of Dusty May

Starts at 1:00

Brian let Seth out of his basement where he works on the UFRs so he’s off exploring the world somewhere (France). Michigan hired Dusty May as the 18th head men’s basketball coach, and the news was dropped in the middle of a hockey championship game. The rumor was that John Beilein played a big part in getting May. Good job, Warde Manuel! This hire was sniped from Louisville, who thought they could hire him this weekend. Whatever happened to Louisville? Dusty May really turned around Florida Atlantic basketball, which was basically a non-existent program before Dusty. He’s had a great track record everywhere he’s been. Dusty May is able to keep his players, even after a Final Four run. 

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]

The Search

Michigan was dead silent until May was announced during a hockey game I was very mad about. This was a surprise to the basketball world, which widely expected May to get hired by Louisville—historically a top-20 job. John Beilein reportedly met with May, along with Warde Manuel, and was able to sell him on Michigan relative to a very good program.

This space has had a lot of Warde Manuel complaints over the last few years but I have to give it up here: they picked up the leading candidate of the cycle almost immediately after he was available and snaked the guy out from under Louisville. A+.

Now, about that candidate:

Background

Well, if you were looking for the exact opposite of a guy who had a 17-year NBA career, this is it: May's college career is 404 File Not Found. He was a student manager under Bobby Knight at Indiana, then went into various analyst roles his first few years after college before landing an assistant gig at Eastern Michigan. He quickly climbed the ladder, going from EMU to Murray State to UAB to Louisiana Tech. There he was retained by Mike White after he took over for Kerry Rupp and quickly became his right hand; he followed White to Florida.

May jumped to FAU after three years, and it's encouraging that his departure seemed to have a deleterious effect on White's tenure. After an NIT year one, Florida went to the Elite Eight in year two, finishing second in the SEC at 14-4. In year three they were 11-7 in the league and a six seed. Those teams ranked 5th and 22nd in Kenpom, respectively.

White's teams slowly deteriorated after May left. White never had a top 25 team again; after May left they went 26, 32, 41, and 59 before White was shown the door.

[After THE JUMP: resume, recruiting, analytics, the near future]