Michigan Hoops ist ein Schatten seiner selbst, und es ist nicht die Schuld von NIL

The Big Ten's Fallen Giant

Remember when Michigan basketball meant something? I do. I remember the Fab Five, even if they never won it all. Those guys were appointment television. Juwan Howard, Chris Webber – they played with a fire you just don't see much these days. They went to back-to-back national championship games in '92 and '93. That's a dynasty, whether you like it or not.

Now? They just fired Juwan Howard after five seasons, and honestly, it felt overdue. The Wolverines went 8-24 last year. Eight wins! They finished dead last in the Big Ten. Steve Fisher, who coached those Fab Five teams, never had a season like that. Not even close. Michigan finished 18-18 in Howard's third season, a year after winning the Big Ten regular-season title in 2021. That's a pretty steep drop-off.

Where's the Toughness?

Here's the thing: everyone wants to blame NIL or the transfer portal for Michigan's woes. And sure, those things change the game. But a good coach still coaches. A good program still finds talent and develops it. Look at Tom Izzo at Michigan State. He's been doing it forever, and his teams are always tough, always in the mix. They finished 20-15 last year and made the NCAA Tournament again.

Michigan just looked soft. They gave up 75.3 points per game last season, which was 287th in the country. In the 90s, you couldn't survive in the Big Ten giving up that kind of easy bucket. You had to play defense. You had to bang inside. You had to earn everything. Jett Howard, Juwan's son, was a nice player, but he was one-and-done for the NBA. They needed more than that. They needed a whole team of guys ready to fight.

The Next Guy Has a Mountain to Climb

So now Dusty May is taking over from Florida Atlantic. He had a great run there, took them to the Final Four in 2023. Good for him. But this isn't Conference USA anymore. This is the Big Ten. He's got his work cut out for him, and then some. He's got to recruit, sure, but he's also got to instill some grit. He’s got to bring back the kind of Michigan basketball that competed. The kind that didn’t just roll over for Purdue or Illinois.

My hot take? Unless May can land a couple of legitimate, old-school bruisers who actually want to play defense and rebound, Michigan won't even sniff the NCAA Tournament in his first two years. This program needs a complete culture overhaul, not just new faces.