ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan kept its national championship celebration rolling Saturday with a parade through the streets of Ann Arbor, a banner-raising at Crisler Center and the announcement of a new contract for coach Dusty May.
Athletic director Warde Manuel didn’t disclose terms of the deal, but he told the crowd at Michigan’s title celebration that May will “be the leader of this basketball team for many years to come.”
“We reached an agreement on the terms, and we’re putting it on paper,” Manuel told The Athletic after the ceremony. “He’s going to be our coach. Dusty and I have a great relationship. We’ve been busy, and my staff has been working on it. It’s going to be on his desk this weekend.”
May previously removed himself from consideration for the North Carolina job, which went to former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, and told Michigan that he wasn’t pursuing other openings.
May is in line for a hefty raise after leading the Wolverines to a 37-3 record and the program’s first national championship since 1989 in his second year as head coach. May earned $4.6 million this season, not including performance bonuses, on a deal that runs through 2030. Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd agreed to a five-year contract extension that will pay him $37.5 million, an average of $7.5 million per season, and Malone signed a six-year, $50 million deal.
“I don’t know exactly where it (ranks),” Manuel said of May’s new deal. “Everybody is trying to shuffle around. One day it’s something, and the next day somebody else has a different deal. He’s happy and I’m happy. How about that?”
Michigan fans are also happy. Thousands of them lined the streets Saturday morning and made their way to Crisler Center to watch the program raise banners for the Final Four and national championship. The Wolverines defeated UConn 69-63 Monday night to win the title.
Fans paid tribute to players from Michigan’s championship team, including forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who was walking gingerly after playing through a knee injury in the championship game.
“If I could come back and play five more years, I would,” said Lendeborg, a projected first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
The Wolverines are already reloading for next season. Point guard Elliot Cadeau, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, has signed a deal to return for his senior season, and guard Trey McKenney is returning for his sophomore season.
Michigan is awaiting NBA Draft decisions from center Aday Mara and forward Morez Johnson Jr. The Wolverines will add another big man to the mix in Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella, and they also landed a recent commitment from five-star high-school recruit Brandon McCoy Jr. and had Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris, the No. 2 player in The Athletic’s portal rankings, on campus for a visit.
