Dusty May discusses 'mentor' John Beilein, Juwan Howard's 'love of Michigan'

Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May took over a tough situation when he was hired in March 2024, with the program having gone 8-24 the prior season, leading to Juwan Howard‘s firing. May led an incredible turnaround and proved that the Maize and Blue — despite missing the NCAA Tournament two-straight seasons before he arrived — aren’t going anywhere.

After all, Michigan has been near the top in the nation in NCAA Tournament wins and NBA Draft picks over the last 15 years — spanning eras coached by John Beilein (2007-19), Howard and May.

Beilein, who most recently worked for the Detroit Pistons and is currently an analyst on Big Ten Network, was part of the interview process that brought May to Ann Arbor, joining director of athletics Warde Manuel on the interview in Fort Lauderdale. He’s remained an unofficial advisor of May’s and is working as a consultant for Michigan Medicine.

“Coach Beilein has become a real valuable resource for me and a mentor and someone who did it before the portal era,” May said on ‘The Sideline’ with Andy Katz. “He was able to build it gradually and build a championship program with NBA players and graduating almost all of his guys.”

Howard, meanwhile, was a Michigan legend as a player, a core member of the ‘Fab Five’ and earning All-America status in the 1990s. He was let go following a dismal 8-24 season, but there were a lot of factors that went into it. Howard missed the beginning of the year after recovering from heart surgery, for one.

“Juwan Howard had some misfortune, I would call it, where just some things didn’t go right,” May said.” And then he had the health issue, so … Juwan Howard can coach basketball. His first couple years, they were as good as any team in the country, and he was national coach of the year.

“Some things happened, it didn’t work out. But his love of Michigan is much, much deeper than that team or that current moment.”

Howard’s son, Jace Howard, stayed on and played for May last season. Howard attended multiple games, including senior day. Howard is currently an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA.

May has felt tremendous support from the former Michigan players, alums and fan base at large.

“It’s been like that across the board,” the Michigan coach said. “The people that are associated with Michigan take a lot of pride in the brand and the block ‘M,’ and it’s our responsibility to make all those guys proud with the way we compete, the way we play.

“It’s been fun. I knew the brand was huge, but it’s been even bigger than I thought.”

Dusty May weighs in on college basketball hot topics

Starting in 2025-26, college basketball teams will have the license to schedule up to 32 — up one from the previous limit of 31. May is all for it.

“I like it. The more, the better,” May weighed in.

Coaches challenges have arrived for this coming season. Coaches can now challenge — at any point in the game — out of bounds calls, basket interference/goaltending and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted area arc.

Teams must have a timeout to request a review. If the challenge if successful, teams will get one additional replay challenge for the rest of the game; if it’s unsuccessful, the team will not be able to challenge for the remainder of the contest.

“I like it,” the Michigan coach said. “Last year, it became so subjective, and I think the officials are gonna … I hate the breaks in action as much as anyone, so I think they’re gonna get some right, they’re gonna get some wrong and we’ve gotta roll with the punches. But I like having one challenge.”

There has long been discussion of moving college basketball from two 20-minute halves to four 10-minute quarters, and the change was made years ago on the women’s side. May would be in favor of adopting that for the men.

“I’m a quarter guy,” he said. “I love FIBA basketball. It just makes sense. When I become the czar of basketball, I think we’re gonna shorten halftimes and we’re gonna go four quarters. We’ll figure out a way to make up for the revenue shortages.”

The ball doesn’t get advanced up the court after timeouts like it does in the NBA, and May said he goes back and forth on this issue.

“That one, I’m really torn on, probably because I don’t like it as a coach because that’s the nostalgia in me,” the Michigan head man said. “But I do think it’s better for the game; it provides a more exciting finish, so that’s good for everyone.”