Michigan Coach Wins Title 2 Years After 8-24 Season

Two years ago, Michigan basketball won just eight games all season. On Monday night, coach Dusty May cut down the championship nets after beating UConn 69-63.

The turnaround feels impossible until you know May's story. He spent years building programs from scratch, starting with Florida Atlantic in 2018 where he didn't even have a practice gym. His office backed up to a janitor's closet that sounded like a construction zone. Players lifted weights in a space so tiny it looked like a closet.

At FAU, May installed basketball hoops in a former yoga studio just so his team could practice. The crowds were so small that assistant Kyle Church's wife would have an entire section to herself. Average attendance topped out at 312 people, and those numbers were inflated.

But May turned that struggling program into a Final Four team in 2023. When Michigan came calling after their 8-24 disaster season, he brought his entire coaching philosophy with him.

The transformation happened fast. May walked back to his hotel at 12:56 a.m. Sunday after demolishing Arizona 91-73 in the semifinal. Instead of celebrating, he opened his laptop to game plan for UConn. By 2:34 a.m., he had mapped out the offensive strategy that would win Michigan its first title since 1989.

Church has worked with May for 13 seasons across four schools. He watched his boss nearly miss the stadium exit Monday night because May was scrolling through 1,001 unread text messages, already thinking about recruiting the next championship team.

Why This Inspires

May's journey shows what patience and process can build. He didn't chase the biggest job or the easiest path. He took a program sight unseen, worked in impossible conditions, and stayed focused on making each team better than the last.

The same switching defense he learned as a student manager under Bob Knight at Indiana now powers one of college basketball's most dominant teams. The same attention to detail that turned FAU into a Final Four squad just rebuilt one of the sport's most storied programs.

As May told Church when reminded about the 60,000 Michigan fans in the stadium: "Someday, this will pay off." He spent 13 years proving it, one rebuild at a time, and now stands on top of college basketball with nowhere left to climb except back up again next season.