What Dusty May, Michigan players said after winning national championship

Michigan basketball wasn't considered the favorite to win the national championship at the outset of the season. Yes, Dusty May brought in a bevy of transfers, including star forward Yaxel Lendeborg. But it still wasn't thought of as a team that was going to dominate the way it did.

Yet, at the end of the final Monday of the college basketball season, it was the Michigan Wolverines cutting down the nets, after beating UConn, 69-63. After the game, head coach Dusty May, most outstanding player Elliot Cadeau, Lendeborg, and Trey McKenney met with the media to discuss the big win and the team's first national championship since the 1989 season. Here is everything they had to say.

Opening statement DUSTY MAY: Yeah, what a way to wrap up the '25-26 college basketball season with this group. I want to begin by thanking last year's team. At Michigan, we came up a little bit short, but those guys laid the foundation, established an identity for us, and also helped attract these guys to come in and chase this stream together.

And secondly, I want to thank our FAU guys, the team, and staff that really, really, this is one time I'll make it about me, that really helped us grow together. And that was the first time I'd been with a group that was truly sacrificial, where we were about each other. And because of that, we all improved so much, and this team's done the same thing.