ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There are higher-than-usual expectations for Michigan basketball this year, with ESPN ranking the Wolverines No. 8 in its preseason power rankings. Usually, you hear coaches talk about how none of that matters, how they’re blocking out the noise. In football, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban would call such praise ‘rat poison.’
But that’s not how Wolverines basketball coach Dusty May sees it.
In fact, May says he and the maize and blue are embracing the high expectations that come with this team. With four high-profile transfers (Yaxel Lendeborg, Elliot Cadeau, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson Jr.), along with key returning players (Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr., Will Tschetter, and LJ Cason), and some high-profile freshmen (Trey McKenney, Malick Kordel, Winters Grady, and Ricky Liburd), many are looking at this team as one who could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament this year.
“It’s certainly nice for our players,” May said. “It’s great for the attention that it brings to our program and the eyes it puts on our guys. It also helps in recruiting, it helps season ticket sales, it helps bringing the students in. But when it comes time to winning and losing games and being our best, it doesn’t really matter. But all the peripheral stuff, it’s certainly important.”
But what does that look like? How does the team bring in the focus, given the high expectations?
According to assistant Justin Joyner, it’s all about honing in on the day-to-day.
“Yeah, I think you’ve got to be process-focused,” Joyner said. “Obviously, there’s a level of expectation, specifically externally, right? Like, people think we’re really good. People think we have a really good roster. But I think in order to reach greatness, you have to be process-oriented. Like, we got to win practice today. We’ve got to win our film session before practice. We’ve got to win our player development sessions. We’ve got to win everything within the margin so that we can win in March.”
Michigan basketball is set to open the 2025-26 season on November 3 against Oakland at Crisler Center.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Dusty May and staff embrace Michigan basketball’s top-10 hype ahead of new season
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
