Why Dusty May Isn't Going to Pitch for Morez Johnson, Aday Mara to Stay at Michigan

Michigan is coming off its second national title in its program's history, but the Wolverines had to quickly turn the page — within hours. The transfer portal opened up shortly after Michigan took down UConn and it's full chaos in college basketball.

While Michigan landed a commitment from Tennessee big man J.P. Estrella, the Wolverines are waiting for word on a pair of big men of their own. Both Aday Mara and Morez Johnson are projected first-round picks this summer, but neither has made their plans official.

Speaking with CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, May said neither player has made up their mind.

Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara (15) dunks against the UConn Huskies — Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"No, not at all. They're still gathering information and trying to make their decision," May said of Mara and Johnson. "We anticipate that both of them are going to have a great option to be first round draft picks. They're just weighing the pros and cons of both and what they want to do as people."

And that's what makes the transfer portal era difficult to navigate. The Wolverines featured the top big-man duo in the country, and Michigan was able to crush teams due to its ability to wear teams down in the paint. If both Mara and Johnson leave, then May will want to replace them. And while he has an idea of what both players are going to do, nothing is 100% until it's official.

"John, that's the difficult thing with balancing this right now, with the portal decisions being made so quickly, and then those guys not having final decisions," said May. "They're very transparent with their thought processes. We have a good idea of what it's going to look like, but you can never say 100% with certainty."

Won't pitch for either to stay

What my shocking to some people, May isn't going to lay out a big pitch to retain either Mara or Johnson.

Yes, May wants both players to come back to Michigan next season, but he wants both players to make their own decision.

"To be honest, John, I don't pitch it at all," said May. "I lay out the information without any emotion because I'm obviously, I have a lot of incentive to convince them to come back and I want it to be their decision....Obviously, I want them both to come back. We could make it work, but I'm more concerned with what they want to do with their future and their careers.

"If they're both gone, I'm going to be like, heck, the only thing we're going to ask for is a couple of tickets when they play the Pistons. But if they're here, I'd feel a lot better about our squad and our continuity. We're here to support those guys. We coach basketball, so I don't get too emotional on those personal decisions. We're going to support them with whatever they decide."

Should they come back?

In my opinion, Mara has likely done enough to head to the NBA Draft. He is projected to go late teen to early 20s, and he might not get much higher than that. Mara slowly worked on a three-point game, but he's not going to become a lethal three-point shooter if he returns to Michigan. NBA teams know what they are getting out of Mara.

But with Johnson, he could come back and make some noise. Johnson would be a focal point of the Wolverines next year, and it felt like he was a non-factor for too many games this year. Yes, Johnson made a difference for Michigan, but during games, there would be spurts where he struggled to defend or rebound. Come back one more season, show he can dominate throughout games, and become a lottery pick.