Dusty May Agrees to Contract Extension, Will Stay at Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines rewarded head coach Dusty May with a contract extension Friday.

Terms of the deal have not yet been revealed, but the school’s athletic director, Warde Manuel, announced that May inked a multi-year extension that will keep him with the program. May has led the Wolverines to a 20-5 record in his first season after leaving Florida Atlantic. He previously led the Owls to a Final Four appearance in 2023. At the time of the announcement, Michigan is ranked No. 12 in the country.

It was a quick turnaround for May who took over for a Wolverine team that had been floundering in recent years. Michigan found early success under previous head coach Juwan Howard, who led them to an Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen appearance in his second and third seasons as head coach.

The Wolverines went 18-16 and missed the NCAA tournament in 2023. Last year, Michigan finished in last place in the Big Ten with an 8-24 record (3-17 in conference). Howard was fired and replaced by May — who spent six years at FAU.

May revamped the roster in just one offseason. Their top four leading scorers all played for different schools last year. This includes center Vladislav Goldin, who was a key contributor during Florida Atlantic’s Final Four run.

He’s accompanied in the front court with fellow 7-footer Danny Wolf (who previously played two years at Yale). Wolf is one of the most unique players in college basketball — a stretch big who can pass the rock (3.6 APG) and leads the Big Ten in rebounding (10.0).

May said the following in a statement after the announcement was made:

I am grateful to Warde, U-M President Santa Ono, and all the members of the Board of Regents for the trust and support they have given me as the head coach. My goal is to bring continued success to this historic program. We cannot reach that goal without the hard work that my staff and players put into this program. We have built a solid foundation; however, there is much more work to be done. I look forward to those challenges and what the future holds for me and my family in Ann Arbor.

It’s a Michigan squad that has the look of a team that can make a deep run in March. That was enough for the program to want to secure May for the long term. It also shuts down any potential rumors of May bolting for the soon-to-be-vacated Indiana job. May was a student manager under Bob Knight and graduated from the university in 2000.

With Mike Woodson announcing his intention to step down after the season, May would have likely been one of the top candidates to fill the position. The Wolverines could not have afforded May walking for a conference rival after the job he’s done this year.