Defend the Block 389 - Reacting to Dusty May's Departure Transcript
6/23/2026 5:00:00 PM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Brian Boesch • 00:00
Over the years, I've steered away from reading any commentary about a Michigan basketball game before putting together a postgame episode of Defend the Block. And that's because there are a ton of great writers, analysts, basketball experts who cover Michigan, the 8-24 version, the 37-3 version, and every team with a record in between. My goal has always been to share my thoughts unfiltered and then I can absorb those other works. Oftentimes thinking, man, I really want. Wish I would have thought of that. Not the case for this one. How could you steer away from the thoughts, the emotions, the perspectives? After the news came out on Monday that Dusty May was heading to the NBA and going to take over the Dallas Mavericks, here's a few things I want to add to the discourse. One. The first time I thought about Dusty May as a potential NBA coach was before he ever coached a game at Michigan.
Brian Boesch • 00:52
In watching him operate his and listening to him speak, I always thought that the NBA could be a potential avenue for him. If of course, things worked out the way that I did anticipate they would at Michigan. Now I'm not saying I saw these two years happening as they did to go from eight wins to 27 and then go from 27 and a Sweet sixteen appearance to a 37-3 national championship season. You could never predict that. That's insane. The ascension that Michigan went on. But when you came considered both his upside and his curiosity, his basketball obsession, I always felt like if things clicked, Dusty would be intrigued by it. And that's not just because it's the NBA and it's the next quote unquote, step up. I think Dusty May, if you take out all the logistics and the, the monetary side and just put in a vacuum of coaching basketball, I think Dusty May would be fascinated by an opportunity to be a head coach in the Euro League.
Brian Boesch • 01:51
I think back to interviews that Bob Costas stick with me here. I promise I'll connect this in a moment. Costas has said he would love to spend a summer broadcasting minor league baseball, riding around on buses and experiencing that. Similarly, again, in a vacuum, not thinking about the logistics, the realities of this, I think Dusty May would be really giddy about a chance to for a year coach at the D two or D three level. This is a guy who has said his initial dream in basketball was to be a high school head coach in the state of Indiana. From a basketball sense, Dusty May is always going to be intrigued about the possibilities. Secondly, once it was clear that this was going to work out, that Dusty Was an elite basketball mind, potentially an all-time basketball mind. There was the question hovering around the program, as is the case for really any sort of spot, how long will Dusty May stay?
Brian Boesch • 02:47
My gut never asking, but just observing and getting to know him, the family, the program, all of it was that Michigan had around four years because Eli, his youngest son, great young man who's been an outstanding manager for the program over the last two years. When Dusty took the job here at Michigan, Eli was finishing his senior year of high school. He has been a student at the University of Michigan. That was my thought of the window around four years and then everything else we'll see. But then Michigan soared quicker than anyone could have ever imagined. They finished a national championship season in year two. Who could have predicted that quick of a jump from 8-24 and then a job with a premier young player in Cooper flag comes open under a very successful NBA GM and an organization that has won an NBA championship this Saturday Century played for an NBA championship in the finals just a few years back.
Brian Boesch • 03:48
This is a spot that would make a lot of sense for anybody who is interested in the NBA. So Dusty May jumped at it. I've been fortunate to get to know Dusty over the last two years to ask him a ton about basketball and some things outside of basketball. I will always be thankful for the time that we got a chance to spend together because Dusty never says no. He's willing to help, he's willing to be honest, he's willing to elaborate and give real answers. Not a whole lot of coach speak from the head coach of the program over the last two years. He allowed me to maximize what I could provide to you and what I could provide to the university and to the program. I've always looked at this as kind of being a liaison. I'm unfortunately captain a little bit of the role. But I do try to tell the stories and it's obviously a lot easier to tell those stories when you have a coach like Dusty.
Brian Boesch • 04:41
Maybe two things that Dusty said that stuck with me when he said them and that stick with me now even more knowing what had happened earlier this week. First was back on Jan. 5, Dusty May held a press conference before a Michigan road game at Penn State which that began Michigan's least inspiring week of the season. Michigan was coming off a third consecutive win by thirty or more points over an AP top-25 team. First team that ever done that, three in a row over top-25 squad. One of the talking points was boy, can't we just fast forward to March Because Michigan was shining on the court and they were healthy. Just get to March. We want to get to the postseason. Dusty Mayo was asked about that and in part he said, quote, you'd hate to wish away one minute, three months and one day later, April 6 in Indianapolis. This clip is how I started my conversation with Dusty on the floor after Michigan won it all.
Brian Boesch • 05:44
You told me so many times this year, coach, this isn't the pinnacle. This isn't the pinnacle. Now that you're at the pinnacle, what's it feel like?
Dusty May • 05:51
Brian, It's, there's a little bit of sadness that this team's not going to be together and I plan on coaching another 25 years and I don't know if we'll ever have another group that's disconnected. This unselfish and also this talented
Brian Boesch • 06:07
Sadness is now the vibe that I have. But also there is a sense of gratitude. Not just in the result, not just in the fact that Michigan won the national championship, but I remember Dusty saying that in January. You'd hate to wish away one minute. You could tell pretty early. This had a chance to be a tremendously special season and I wanted to make sure to appreciate that because it's easy to think about dynasties and long-term runs and all of that when you have a coach and a program humming along like Dusty May in Michigan was doing back in January. And where it went three months and a day later will live forever.
Brian Boesch • 06:48
It is a special, special part of my life of anybody listening to this podcast, life, I'm guessing to get to see Michigan win its second ever national championship. But also I am thankful because the fact that college sports, they've been year to year for a while now. This might be one of the most jarring examples, not just in college sports, but certainly for Michigan fans. And it's easy to bemoan some elements of that. I know I've done it, but the fact that we got to not just appreciate but also watch the 2025-26 Wolverines represent what college sports can still be at its apex, even if rosters change a lot more. And no, we did not see Yaxel Lendeborg's growth from his first year at Arizona Western to winning that national championship. Just because the timeframe changes, the storylines change, doesn't mean that there can't still be something really, really special about college sports.
Brian Boesch • 07:45
And yeah, it's an interesting dynamic because Michigan's national championship season will live forever, even if there is currently an unexpected sense of finality to what is a short-lived era. Let's talk a little bit about what happened and what's next here on a bit of a strange episode of Defend the Block.
[music builds]
Jeff Laurence • 08:09
We're talking Michigan basketball. Welcome to Defend the Block, where we'll take you inside the basketball programs with interviews, analysis and so much more. Now here's your host, Brian Busch.
Brian Boesch • 08:22
Mike Boynton junior has been on staff over the last couple of years. The first reported hire from Dusty May when he took the job two seasons ago. He is the interim head coach. Wanted to take a little bit of an approach here because obviously we all know how college sports work. There will be a portal opening for Michigan's players at some point here in the near future.
Brian Boesch • 08:42
Who knows where it's all going to go. I don't have any information or predictions or whatever it might be. What I do have are a couple of thoughts based on players who are now getting ready to either definitely hear or hopefully hear their names on Tuesday night in the NBA draft. One, I reached out to Nimari Burnett, one of my absolute favorites. He of course young man who endured a great deal. He was on that eight in twenty fourteen. I wanted to just get a player perspective on Mike Boynton junior Asked Nimari if he'd be willing and this is what he said about Mike. I didn't, I even said to him specifically, I'm not asking you to endorse him. I just want perspective. And he was willing to do so.
Nimari Burnett • 09:22
Yeah, I will completely vouch for him. What makes Coach Mike B. That's what we call such a good coach and a good person and right for the job is because he cares about you off the court. He cares about what you, what you eat, he cares about how you slept, he cares about your routine and not to be in someone's business. He genuinely wants the best for you. It was a lot of texts and a lot of moments that we shared together through this past year of him just saying whatever you, whatever you need, I got you. I'm there for you and I want to make this the best year possible. He was like, I'm not saying I can do it single-handedly, but I want to be a part of making this the, the best year of your life. And in so many ways it really was. So that's one component in the on-court court component. He knows his stuff. He knows the game of basketball. He's been an elite head coach before and here at Michigan and spent with his time under Dusty and his time being an assistant coach.
Nimari Burnett • 10:27
He's always been like just overqualified for the coaching position that he had. So this is a perfect fit and I feel like it's a area that Michigan basketball will appreciate and enjoy. And the sky is the limit for Mike B and Michigan basketball.
Brian Boesch • 10:43
Again thanks to Nimari Burnett. Really hoping that he gets a chance to shine at the NBA level. We'll see if he gets his name called a Wednesday candidate in the second round. He and Roddy Gale junior Fingers crossed for those two young men and great Michigan Wolverines. The other thing I want to share is something that Mike Boynton junior directly impacted a player from last year's team and that's Yaxel Endeavor. I don't know if there's a single person, and this includes Dusty, who had more of an impact on Yaxel Lendeborg growing into what he became in his year in Ann Arbor than Boynton. He was struck. Boynton was by a quote that Oklahoma City head coach Mark Dagnault said after Game three of their first round of the playoffs back in April. They beat Phoenix, Jalen Williams was out for OKC and Ajay Mitchell was thrust into a starting spot. Mitchell scored fifteen points, was five of twenty shooting after a guy he only averaged about 10 field-goal attempts per game during the regular season.
Brian Boesch • 11:44
But the goal hey, no Jalen Williams. They need another volume shooter. And Ajay Mitchell was willing, even if from a statistical standpoint and efficiency efficiency standpoint, he wasn't phenomenal. But Daigneault said something that stuck with Boynton. Winners fail and losers hide. He wasn't hiding. That's what Daigneault said about Ajay Mitchell and it got Boynton thinking back to a critical juncture for Michigan in 2025-26. And that was when the video came out about Yaxel Lendeborg. A fan got him back in the spring of 25 to yell some expletives about Purdue to a guy who said that he was a friend with a big Purdue fan and Boynton was with Yaks when that video came out. It came out on a Sunday, the day after Michigan beat UCLA, and actually Lendeborg and Boynton were at the Michigan-Michigan State women's basketball game and it was late.
Brian Boesch • 12:51
Michigan was destroying Michigan State. It was one of the best wins of the year for Kim Barnes, Arico's crew and this came out and Lendeborg and Boynton, who were very, very close, they were talking through things and Lendeborg said, yeah, that's me. It's. It's who I was. It's not who I've become. As I've gotten to know Ann Arbor and gotten to know the program and matured and all of that. So Boynton said, you need to call Dusty. You need to talk through with him the game plan and how he wants to approach it at practice the next day. And Michigan had practiced before that point, so they had done a Sunday practice. They were getting ready for that Tuesday trip to Purdue. So Yax calls Dusty, talk about game plan. Yax apologizes, all of that. And then Lendeborg. And Boynton got on the phone again Sunday. And what Boynton said to Lendeborg was this. Are you good enough?
Brian Boesch • 13:51
All that matters at the end of the day is, are you good enough? You said what you said, and if you're good enough, then we'll be fine. It only matters if you're not good enough. That's the only way this goes bad. Basically, what he was saying was, winners they fail, losers they hide. Lendeborg, for a little while had hit a bit. He was sheepish around the idea that he was Michigan's best player, even though he was. He was the skeleton key. He was that final missing piece of what was a national championship. And Boynton has said that Lendeborg stopped hiding when that Purdue video came out and how he played. Because that Purdue game, I will always remember that atmosphere. And Boynton told me about this. He said, hey, you know Purdue, they're not really about the profanities or the personal shots. They. Purdue is just a really, really good college basketball atmosphere.
Brian Boesch • 14:57
But then that video comes out and, yeah, you understand, right? They're going to go after you, they're going to go after Yaks. And what did Michigan do and what did Lendeborg do? Had one of his most complete performances of the season. One of Michigan's most complete performances of the season. By the second half, the OD directed toward Lendeborg had basically gone away because Purdue's fans, high basketball IQ fans, had said, we don't have the winning hand here. Michigan is better on this night, and we need to do everything we can to make every Purdue basket feel like it is the most important basket of the night. And they did. It was a great atmosphere, but Michigan just kept coming at them. Lendeborg was the best player on the floor. Michigan dominated that game. That was a moment that Michigan pivoted because Lendeborg embraced the opportunity.
Brian Boesch • 15:51
And nobody had more of a, an understanding or an ability to reach Yaks than Boynton. Winners fail and losers hide. Just like Ajay Mitchell in that playoff game against Phoenix. Lendeborg did not hide. And a big reason why he wasn't hiding anymore. Like Boynton made the connection and I asked him about this. Think back to the Wisconsin loss. Yaxel Lendeborg should have taken the shot on that final possession. He deferred to Roddy Gale Jr., who was kind of flat-footed, didn't have a great look, missed the three. In that moment, Yax hid for the rest of the way. He didn't fail a whole lot, but was willing to fail and obviously won a great deal. Mike Boynton, a big reason for Lendeborg's growth and that was just one of many stories that I hope to tell down the road. But that one really stuck out with me of just being able to reach guys, hearing from Damari and thinking back to that moment where Mike Boynton Jr. had to find something that a player wasn't finding in himself.
Brian Boesch • 16:56
Now, where this all goes, how it all breaks down, we'll see. I mean, obviously it's a nerve-wracking time. You can't guarantee anything at this point, but, but strategically I do believe that Mike Boynton Jr. is uniquely qualified for this spot for this moment. Does it guarantee anything? No. Does it mean that he's going to be the coach here for a long time? If he does well or if he doesn't do well? We don't know. That's just how college sports are. But for continuity, for relationships, all of it, the decision with Boynton I think is the only decision. It makes the most sense and yeah, it begins one of the most important stretches of Boynton's career and obviously for this program. But the last thing I'll say about Boynton, the thing that another thing will stick with me is Tuesday morning, Michigan just won the national championship in Indianapolis and Boynton will go every morning and he does a workout and at the team hotel he's normally in there riding a bike or on a treadmill or something along those lines.
Brian Boesch • 17:59
And I, I did pretty well. Sticking with that despite the, the busy schedule during the Final Four. I did not make it the Tuesday morning. I was not there. I saw him on Monday before the championship game. I was not there on Tuesday, but I saw him around breakfast time, a later breakfast than normal, and I said, hey, did you make it down to the gym? Of course, as if there was ever a doubt. He'll compartmentalize he'll be able to again put Michigan in the best possible spot in a really difficult situation. We'll see what happens, but we will be here to cover it and give you more information along the way. Obviously, fluid might bring you a special episode or two down the road. Not sure, but did want to get some thoughts to you after the big news. Also was supposed to have Ricky Leibert. I have an interview with Ricky. We will try to share that here sooner rather than later.
Brian Boesch • 18:51
Had a great one with Oscar Goodman last week, but really enjoyed the sit down with Ricky and hoping to do some intros for this 2026-27 roster as we go along in the summer. But thanks to all of you for listening, thanks to Nimari for making some quick time for me before a very, very big week in his life. And again, appreciate all of your passion, your desire to see Michigan play really well. I'm sad. I'm bummed. I'm not mad, but I'm sad. I'm disappointed. And it's because of what Dusty May has provided and what I thought he still could give and would give to Michigan. Just yeah, stuff happens. And college sports are, as we've said a lot of times on this podcast and elsewhere, it's a unique time, but certainly wishing Dusty all the best. And yeah, it's, it's OK to sting right now. It's a bummer. But we'll see what this new look Wolverines program will have in store moving forward. What I can tell you, it's worth sticking around here on Defend the Block. Thanks as always and go Blue.
Jeff Laurence • 19:55
Thanks for listening to today's edition of Defend the Block, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast Network, MGO Blue Podcasts. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
