We have heard directly from another Michigan basketball player since a sudden coaching change June 22.
Among those who have already reaffirmed their commitment, incoming graduate transfer Jalen Reed − a wing from LSU − is the first transfer to speak publicly after coach Dusty May’s departure to coach the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
Reed explained the team’s emotions after the the move was announced, when he recently sat down with the program’s radio play-by-play voice Brian Boesch on an episode of “Defend The Block” podcast.
“I’ve just been really impressed with how much guys are in the gym and how much guys really believe in each other and believe in this team,” Reed said. “It was easy for when Dusty left for everybody to kind of split and splinter, but everybody said, ‘When we woke up this morning, before the news broke, we thought we were a championship team – and nothing has really changed but Dusty’s left.'”
U-M named former assistant coach Mike Boynton Jr. as its interim coach and thus far, 12 of the 14 scholarship players have publicly reaffirmed their status with the program. The lone exceptions are junior point guard L.J. Cason (coming off an ACL injury) and incoming freshman McDonald’s All-American Quinn Costello.
Reed called the coaching news a bit of a “shock” but said he wasn’t filled with any “resentment” over the decision, adding he knew it was “a dream come true” for May. While May’s departure is undoubtedly a blow to U-M’s title hopes, Reed said it was May who left the team with the message that it still has all the necessary pieces to win at a high level in 2026-27.
“I want to say Dusty came in right after the news broke, came in the locker room and said it first,” Reed said. “Everybody was like, ‘You’re right.’ Coach Mike [Boynton] even followed up on it and the team kind of agreed. Our leaders spoke up – [Elliot] Cadeau, Trey [McKenney] – and everybody just kept believing in the goal.”
Reed, who spent the past four seasons in Baton Rouge, came to Ann Arbor as an under-the-radar addition this offseason. He has been limited the past two seasons, tearing his Achilles in one and ACL in the other, but is rehabbing with the intent of making an impact for the Wolverines at some point next season.
May signed Reed as a low-risk, high-reward player − someone U-M doesn’t need massive production from, but who could be a welcomed addition if healthy. In eight games as a junior in 2024-25, he averaged 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game before his first injury. The man who put Reed on May’s radar was U-M assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen.
Miskdeen, who was at Florida (2021-22) and Georgia (2022-24) prior to joining U-M’s staff, had tried to recruit Reed out of high school, before he ultimately chose LSU.
With Reed in the portal, the two reconnected and Miskdeen was able to sell Reed on coming to Ann Arbor, and convinced him to stay once May exited.
“I just talked to coach Akeem, he kind of reassured me that he thought coach Mike [Boynton] would get the job, it would be run similar,” Reed said. “Coach Dusty said the same things [in his departure meeting] where he felt like the program would still be honestly really similar − even with him not being here physically, he would still have his hands all over the program.”
“I just believed in them and feel like if you look at my history, loyalty is in me. I stayed at LSU for four years, so I wasn’t going nowhere.”
While Boynton was often a main recruiter for the majority of the roster, Miskdeen and May led the way with Reed.
In the process, Reed, who said his health is “closing in on 90%” now that he’s back on the court running and working out, learned even more about his late father, Justin (an All-American at Ole Miss in 2001), and his connection with Boynton.
“I discovered him and my dad were roommates at a camp back in their playing days,” Reed said. “It’s only grown each and every day since this all has happened.
“I’m sure it will grow even more, especially when I get back to playing.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dusty May’s final message to Michigan basketball revealed
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
