April 6th marked the end of the 2026 men’s college basketball season, with Michigan prevailing as the national champions at the final four in Indianapolis. This is their first championship since 1989 and their second overall.
Michigan steamrolled the competition all year long, winning the Big 10 regular season title with a record of 19-1 in the conference (They did lose to Purdue in the Big 10 tournament though) in route to a 37-3 final record and the second overall seed in the big dance. In March, it was more of the same, with the Wolverines winning each game of the tournament by a margin of at least thirteen points until the title game. When asked about her team winning it all, Kate Kadela (11) said, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, seeing Michigan finally win a championship is a dream come true. Their offense was very exciting to watch all year.” With Michigan normally utilizing their identity of a high-flying offense, the national championship game was the only tournament game they scored below ninety points, winning a 69-63 defensive showcase versus two seed UConn.
All year, big blue was led by their 6’9” forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who won the Big 10 player of the year and was selected to be a first team all-American in his standout season after transferring from the University of Alabama Birmingham and playing at a community college in Arizona before that. He is now a projected late lottery to early 20s pick in the NBA draft this year.
Just two years ago, this program had one of its worst years in history after going 8-24 in 2024. Dusty May was hired away from Florida Atlantic after taking them to a final four to clean up the mess up and just two short years into his tenure, he brought them back to national champion status. “It was very impressive how quickly Dusty May turned this program into championship contenders,” noted Carson Waters (11). This quick turnaround had a lot to do with his recruiting out of the transfer portal, as not a single starter on the team started their college career at Michigan.
Michigan’s remarkable turnaround from one of the worst teams in the Big 10 in 2024 to national champion in 2026 was made possible by a homerun coaching hire and his ability to build a roster through the still relatively new transfer portal.
