INDIANAPOLIS — It began as an impossibility, a young coach gathering a bunch of transfers, preaching selflessness and persistence, launching an ambitious mission with a clear destination. It was an impossibility that somehow, against the odds and long-held norms, became an inevitability.

The Wolverines found one more way to confound the opposition, on a night when shots weren’t falling and their star was ailing and the foe was battle-tested. It came down to a defensive slugfest, and sure enough, they can win that way too.

The mission was completed in a fittingly physical clash, as Michigan held off Connecticut, 69-63, Monday night to capture the school’s first college basketball national championship since 1989. All the traits were on display, Dusty May’s vision in full form, as the maize and blue confetti fell from the ceiling of Lucas Oil Stadium.

May has been the grand connector in his two years as coach, building bonds with players who barely knew each other, then couldn’t be pulled apart. True to their mission and their mantra, the Wolverines used all their resources to complete a 37-3 season and deliver the Big Ten’s first basketball national championship in 26 years.

The Wolverines talked titles and net-cutting from the first moment they gathered last summer, strangers in a new land. Even before they shot to No. 1 in the country after a blistering start and a stunning three-game domination in a Las Vegas tournament, they knew what they had, and what they wanted.

“When you bring a group this talented together, and they decide from the beginning that they're going to do it this way and they never waver and they never change, that's probably the most uncommon thing in athletics now,” May said. “It's never guaranteed, but for these guys to cut down the nets after all they've sacrificed is pretty special.”

The sacrifice was evident in the selflessness, with any player liable to make the key play in any game, star-less and position-less. In this one, Yaxel Lendeborg, the most-celebrated of the four new transfer starters, was slowed by a knee injury, which stalled a Michigan offense that had topped 90 points in all five Tournament games.

Connecticut, national champs two of the past three seasons, showed the toughness it takes, and Michigan showed a bit more. It was more basketball brutality than basketball beauty, testing nerves and worthiness.

There was transfer Elliot Cadeau, the point guard wizard who no longer was needed at North Carolina, directing Michigan in the clutch moments. Cadeau had to run more of the show with Lendeborg hobbled, and then ran into early foul trouble. With the game tight in the second half, Cadeau rose out of the defensive muck to drill a 3-pointer that gave UM a 48-37 lead. Incredibly, it was the Wolverines’ first 3 of the night (they were 2 for 15), and sent the huge Michigan contingent in the crowd of 70,720 into a frenzy.

Cadeau finished with 19 points and only one turnover and was named the Most Outstanding Player.

“Man, it means the world to me,” Cadeau said. “Last year I was really down on myself, a lot of people doubted me, and I'm just so proud of myself to be able to say I was the most outstanding player and win a national championship at the same time.”

When Connecticut made one more run, it was freshman Trey McKenney who stepped up and hit a 3 to make it 65-56 with 1:50 remaining. McKenney was 1 for 8 from the field before the shot that just about iced it. Clutch? Michigan was 25 for 28 on free throws, which officially iced it.

Michigan's championship makeup

The Wolverines never looked fully comfortable but never looked flustered, and that’s now part of their unique championship DNA.

“In the second half, it got a little chippy and physical, so we thought, this is going to be a game we just have to figure it out,” May said. “UConn was dominating us on the glass. They were as motivated and determined as any team we played. But we did feel we were defending well enough that we were going to be able to find enough baskets.”

They didn’t find as many as they normally do, in all their record-stuffing blowouts. It wasn’t surprising against a Connecticut team that defends fiercely and has savvy veterans like Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. (who had transferred from UM). The Huskies shot only 31%, and gave a respectful nod to the Wolverines.

“That's one of the better teams I've played, certainly since I've been a college basketball coach,” said Danny Hurley, whose team finished 34-6. “They're clearly the best team in the country this year. They're just so hard to score against at the rim. They’re just so tall.”

Tall, talented and tenacious, they were thrown and grown in May’s basketball lab. History will decide where this Michigan team ranks among the sport's all-time greats, but it’s up there, winning 17 games by 20-plus points, going 19-1 in the stacked Big Ten. It’s certainly one of the most distinctive champions ever, the first with five transfers starting, including four freshly culled from the portal and integrated with a team that was 8-24 just two years ago.

The tiresome outside narrative focused on the transfers, but the Wolverines won partly because the newcomers and holdovers paid little attention. Lendeborg earned a nice paycheck to turn down the NBA, and yet proved more eager to fit in than stand out. He shot only 4 for 13 in the title game, his ailing left knee sapping his strength. But Morez Johnson Jr., who left Illinois for a larger role, and 7-3 Aday Mara, who left UCLA for any type of role, stood tall.

“I played a terrible first half, then still played a terrible second half,” Lendeborg said. “It was really tough for me, but my teammates had my back the entire time.”

In addition to their defense, the Wolverines showed their defiance, and earned the last word. The sniping — from social media and the basketball establishment — about their pricey roster never made much sense in the era of NIL and rampant transferring. May generally didn’t pay it much heed, and regularly pointed out how all the transfers sought — and found — better opportunities.

With the plan fully paid off, the colorful Lendeborg had a few sentiments to express.

“I know the keyboard Twitter warriors are gonna hate it,” Lendeborg said. “The ‘mercenaries’ showed up and did the best that they could. Best college team ever. National champions, doesn’t matter what anybody says, they can’t take that away from us.”

'So much talent'

They talked with an edge and played with an edge, but also with an exuberance. They embraced May’s system so quickly, it was hard to fathom. They said from the start, their goal was to cut down the nets on the final Monday night and they never wavered, even after top backup L.J. Cason was lost for the season with a knee injury.

May fed the motivation, talking about “April habits.” He said they needed a “center banner” to hang in Crisler Center, next to the only other national championship banner, now 37 years old.

May had the self-confidence from last year’s 27-10 surprise, and his Final Four run with Florida Atlantic, but the trick was imbuing that confidence in his players. What made them believe it, long before the season started?

“I just saw so much talent around me since day one,” Cadeau said. “Unique talent, like three bigs at the same time, switching 1 through 4. I saw a unique type of basketball, and I knew it would be a mismatch nightmare for every single team we played. And it was.”

Returning players such as Roddy Gayle Jr. and Nimari Burnett saw what May was concocting and welcomed the new guys without concerns about roles or playing time.

“I thought it would work because of Dusty, his mind for great basketball is undeniable,” said Burnett, the starting guard who transferred from Alabama three years ago. “Just to see what he has done, establishing the unselfish culture. I said it when I decided to come back, let’s win it all. And I always believed it.”

The man who hired May beamed as he stood on the court, watching coaches and players climb the ladders to collect their twine. AD Warde Manuel has withstood enough criticism, he’s entitled to accept plaudits for grabbing May before other programs got him.

May’s name has been mentioned for more high-profile openings, and UM has reworked his contract once, and likely will again.

“He’s happy and I’m happy, we’ll get to that (contract) and announce it when we get it done,” Manuel said. “I love Dusty, man. What I saw in him was how he talked about building a team, about connecting with people. And you can see it in the way this team plays for each other.”

May connected players and eras, while giving the athletic department a huge lift in a time of unrest with Juwan Howard’s firing. After the game, the Wolverines held signs bearing the statement “Shock the world Boys!” as an ode to Glen Rice, who used the words and unprecedented shooting to carry UM to the 1989 title. When this game ended, Will Tschetter rushed to the press table to bear-hug Terry Mills, the radio commentator who also starred on the ’89 team.

Leading up to the game, the Fab Five was in attendance, egging on the Wolverines to complete the mission they couldn’t quite pull off, losing twice in the championship game. In the first row in the stadium Monday night was John Beilein, the one who sparked the UM basketball revival. He took a chance by taking over a moribund program in 2007 and led it to two championship games, losing in 2013 and 2018.

He also helped sustain this era, counseling May at Florida Atlantic when Manuel came courting. Beilein beamed as he watched the Wolverines warm up 30 minutes before the game, and said he believes they’re the best college basketball team in the last 20-30 years.

That’s what they set out to be, not that anyone really believed it at first. Dominant performance after dominant performance, the Wolverines kept setting records, winning 29 games by double digits. It was taxing at the end, but not enough to derail them on their extraordinary trek, from impossibility to inevitability.

©2026 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.