SU is basking in the glow from Michigan’s NCAA Tournament championship last night over UConn. Danny Hurley put a very good game plan together to muck up the game, slow it down and play physically. This was not one for the time capsule but Michigan prevailed. SU has a lot of thoughts about this season:

1. Basketball seasons are a journey. Michigan played 40 games and SU watched about 35 of them and followed the others on the internet. At the start of the season, there were a ton of turnovers and a couple of close games (see Wake Forest on a neutral court). But Dusty May has a process and he sticks with the process. We saw the same thing last season with the early season turnovers (even the late season turnovers last season). The turnovers started to decrease (although believe me, there are plenty of dumb ones every game) and the scoring went up. They lost LJ Cason to injury and the offense went backwards for several games. However, May retooled things for the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAAs, and then had to overcome the injury to Yaxel. Credit to May for still blowing teams out until the finals in every round. Impressive.
2. This team played the right way. SU was raised on the late 1960s/early 1970s NY Knicks. Frazier, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Red Holzman: “see the ball.” That team, like this Michigan team, played so unselfishly. It was all about winning – not “getting mine.” I hate to see players revel in their 40- or 50-point games in the NBA. There is no glory in taking 30 or 40 shots. There is glory in 30-assists for a team. Move without the ball, make plays for others. That is what real teams do.
3. The transfer portal and NIL money have created a free agent world in college hoops. SU is not a fan as I have always enjoyed watching freshmen improve each year and contribute more. That was the John Beilein years at Michigan, and those were fun teams to watch. So enjoyable. Dusty May takes a similar approach but he lets his players freelance. They don’t have many plays and yes, some games there are some awful passes and turnovers. But May always talks about the process and preparation, and he is convinced what he does in October will pay off in April. He is a student of the game – a rare coach. And, by the way, his style does not translate to the NBA. At all. He would be smart to remain in college as the level of selfishness in the pros is well above what you see in college.
4. Much is made of the transfers on this Michigan team. But other than Yaxel, none of the other players were stars with their prior teams. Mara was underutilized at UCLA playing for a screamer type coach, Johnson is just a sophomore, Cadeau was a turnover machine at North Carolina who couldn’t shoot. Burnett transferred years ago from Alabama and is a role player at best. Now, Mara and Johnson would be well served to stay one more year, get paid nice NIL money and then hone their games for a higher draft position next season. Johnson, in particular, can get a lot better offensively. But history says guys take the NBA money and will go. Of the starters, SU only sees Yaxel as being a real NBA player. Mara may hang around a couple of years but he will be Europe bound at some point. Johnson, if he goes too early, will be in the G-League. Yaxel can play and is a fun personality. He is a guy SU will follow on the NBA Season Pass on television.
5. Duke gets the best players every year. Look at this NBA season: Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel are neck and neck for NBA Rookie of the Year honors. And Duke still did not win it all last season. Yes, Dusty May had a good nucleus of players, but to be able to meld them to play together from the start (see Las Vegas blowouts early in the year) is impressive. Great coach, knows how to motivate players and help them see the value of sharing the ball.
6. Yaxel Lendeborg gets it. Believe me, not many star players with an NBA future would have come back into the game on Saturday or played last night. He took a risk. The reality is that this will likely be his most enjoyable season playing basketball in his career. If he is a role player in the NBA, it will be very different, and he will have to adjust. It just won’t be as much fun. Credit to him for battling through the pain last night. He was a bit of a liability on the boards but SU was glad he was on the court for that many minutes.

As we get older, we know these moments may not happen again. The Yankees had the glory years from 1996 – 2000, but boy it’s very hard to get another championship. And Michigan may not win another one for many years. It is really hard to thread the needle. For SU, even if Michigan had lost last night, I would have been fine with this season. So much fun, so many great moments and periods of games where the ball is zipping around and shots are going in. Remember: the Big Ten was the best conference this year and Michigan was undefeated on the road in that conference. We may never see that again.

SU will enjoy the moment and now wait to see who stays, who goes and who is coming in the portal. It is officially open and Dusty May and his staff do not get any time off. So it goes.