Dusty May on Michigan's Roster Building Challenges: 'It's The Price of Winning'

Michigan loves the roster it built, but there are always challenges when you have to see what your current roster is going to do.

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Coming off its first national title since 1989, Michigan and Dusty May had to quickly get to work. There was a viral screenshot going around following the Wolverines cutting down the nets in Indianapolis of assistant coaches on the computer already recruiting for the 2026-27 roster.

The transfer portal opened just hours after the conclusion of Michigan's national title win over UConn. But it wasn't as easy as Dusty May recruiting the top players and them wanting to come play for a team that could go back-to-back.

That's because two of Michigan's best players had decisions to make. Yaxel Lendeborg ran out of eligibility, but both Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. had to decide between returning to Michigan for another season, or heading to the draft.

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Appearing on The Field of 68, Dusty May spoke to Jeff Goodman about the challenges of recruiting with some uncertainty in the air.

"Whenever you have guys that you know, they're going to at least test the waters and they'll probably be drafted, but it's not certain," May said. "And so the next group that you're recruiting in the back of their mind, well, what happens if they do come back or they don't stay in the draft? And so fortunately, there is at least some overlap in agencies. And so they can, I guess, get more up to date information from their agents than they can even from us with the intentions.

"But it's it's complicated. But it's also the price of winning, winning like we did, because I think everyone improved their value and their stock because of the team's success. And so we talked about it where we said if we have to go young or we have to rebuild, whatever the case, we'll be fine because it's you know, we are very process oriented and process driven. But it worked out well. We really like our roster for next season."

It's a good problem to have

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As May noted in his interview, several players had increased their stock from the run Michigan went. The Wolverines were under the national spotlight and NBA scouts were seeing plenty of the Maize and Blue.

Mara's draft stock began rising halfway through the season, but as Michigan continued to make its run, Johnson Jr.'s stock really went up. Even Elliot Cadeau had a cup of coffee in the NBA Combine. If it weren't for his run in the NCAA Tournament, Cadeau would've never been able to test his stock.

While recruiting could, in theory, take a dip — especially in the transfer portal — due to prolonged decisions, players know that if they come to Michigan and play under May, they will have a shot to head to the NBA. The Wolverines will continue to sell themselves with their winning ways.