Michigan basketball has seen a lot of great players and teams over the years, from Cazzie Russell to Glen Rice to the Fab Five.
But this year’s edition could be the best one yet, and the Wolverines will get a chance to prove that next week in Indianapolis after manhandling Tennessee 95-62 on Sunday at the United Center to clinch a spot in the Final Four.
The Wolverines (35-3), top-seeded in the Midwest Region, will join Illinois as the Big Ten’s two representatives, taking on Arizona, the West’s top seed, in one of Saturday’s semifinals. The Illini, third-seeded in the South, will take on UConn in the other semifinal after the Huskies’ stunning last-second win over top-seeded Duke in the East.
In case of a Big Ten title game, the Wolverines beat the Illini 84-80 in their only conference matchup on Feb. 27, and also beat them in the 1989 semifinals.
Michigan’s microwavable rebuild from a 24-loss season in 2023-24 to the Final Four two years later is a success story that would make them tournament Cinderellas if not for one little fact — no one can call any team from Ann Arbor a true underdog. The school’s many resources, its storied tradition and nationally known fight song make Michigan a university that’s either loved or hated.
“Obviously, the brand of Michigan as a university is world-renowned,” coach Dusty May said before name-dropping the 1989 NCAA champions and, of course, the Fabs.
Photos: Michigan 95, Tennessee 62 in the Elite Eight
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“The Fab Five did as much ‘culturing’ for our sport as anyone since I’ve been alive other than M.J.,” May said, referring to Michael Jordan in the house that Jordan built. “So I’m very, very grateful to all those people … I think we’re all carrying the flag for all those old guys when they come back in the summer.
“That’s the worst part of having a program that’s had multiple coaches, that there’s not one umbrella. But we’ve tried to welcome all the different eras with open arms, because they’ve laid the foundation for all of us to receive what we have.”
Perhaps the Wolverines can bring back the baggy shorts and black socks from the Fab Five era to honor that tradition in Indy. They already carry the same confident swagger of those 1990s teams that starred Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard, and showed it off Sunday during a loose ball scrum that led to some extracurricular jawing and star Yaxel Lendeborg pointing to the scoreboard for the Tennessee players, in case they didn’t know they were getting pummeled.
Lendeborg, a grad student transfer from UAB, said a team bonding trip last summer was the impetus for the tight-knit group.
“Just all the road trips, we started playing (video games) among us, and it’s awesome,” he said. “We’re all being super-childish and just having fun, not letting any of the noise bother us, and playing our hearts out for each other.”
Michigan rolled through the Big Ten regular season with only one loss, dominating its opponents most of the way. But it eked out wins in its first two games in the Big Ten Tournament against Ohio State and Wisconsin — beating the Badgers in the semifinals on a last-second shot by Lendeborg — before losing to Purdue in the conference title game.
For the first time all season, Michigan looked semi-vulnerable heading into March Madness.
But that proved to be an optical illusion. When it mattered most on Sunday, Michigan locked in and looked like the team it had been for the bulk of the season. Lendeborg scored 27 points with seven rebounds, while former Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr. and freshman Trey McKenney added 12 apiece, and point guard Elliott Cadeau added eight with 10 assists.
The end was swift and merciless. Michigan went on a 21-0 run near the midway mark of the first half to break the game open, and everyone got into the act. A driving reverse layup by Lendeborg got the crowd bouncing with 9:19 left in the half, and Roddy Gayle Jr. and Cadeau sank 3-pointers on the next two possessions.
Cue up “Mr. Brightside,” and open up their eager eyes. A soft hook by Aday Mara and another 3 by Lendeborg squeezed the life out of the Vols before former Morgan Park star Nimari Burnett’s layup ended the dominating stretch with a 19-point lead.
“The beautiful brand of basketball became contagious,” May said in a T-shirt-ready statement.
That energy on both ends of the court had snowballed. The Vols (25-12) missed 10 straight shots over a six-plus minute span to end any suspense, leading to showtime at the U.C. Cadeau’s no-look pass to Burnett underneath precipitated an easy layin by Lendeborg with a half-minute left in the half, and McKenney nailed a 3 before the buzzer, taking the Wolverines into the locker room with a comfortable 48-26 lead.
Michigan cruised through the second half, where the most raucous moment came after May pulled his starters near the end and sent in a group that included bench legend Howard Eisley Jr. and May’s son, Charlie May. It was Charlie May who hit a 3-pointer with a minute left that turned the Wolverines’ bench into a house party at midnight.
On his way downcourt, Charlie May stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes like he couldn’t even believe it himself. The only thing missing was a patented Jordan shrug.
Michigan reached the Final Four for the ninth time, seeking its second title. Its only NCAA championship came in an overtime win over Seton Hall in 1989, the year made famous when athletic director Bo Schembechler fired Bill Frieder before the tournament for accepting another job, saying “a Michigan man will coach Michigan, not an Arizona State man.” Interim coach Steve Fisher then guided the Rice-led team to the title, which included a semifinal win over the Illini.
The Wolverines have made it back to the title game four times since, losing in ’92 and ’93 with the Fabs, and in 2013 and ’18.
Dusty May started out as a student manager under Bobby Knight at Indiana, so he was not a Michigan Man when he came to Ann Arbor. But he certainly is now. May is making his second Final Four appearance after guiding mid-major Florida Atlantic to the promised land in 2023. He was hired to replace Howard after the Wolverines’ 8-24 season in 2023-24, and completely turned the program around. Burnett and Will Tschetter are the only remaining players from that team, and have now seen both ends of the spectrum.
“We felt like once we got these guys to stay and added the pieces we did in the portal, that we had a chance to be good,” May said. “And a lot has to go right, but it was more along the lines of ‘Let’s get the guys in here that we can lose with, and if we’re not good, we’re going to be building towards something great and they’re going to be foundational pieces.’ And that’s what we did.”
Now this “super-childish” bunch is headed to the Final Four, with a chance to be remembered as the best of them all.
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They’re “carrying the flag for the old guys,” and making a name for themselves.