Over the years, Dusty May has consistently proven that he has a winning formula in the transfer portal — and it starts with finding big men with size, length, and untapped potential. He has a rare ability to see what a player can become rather than simply what they are. Time and again, May has taken big men who barely played at their previous stops and turned them into impact players, while also maximizing the potential of players who were already on the verge of becoming all-conference caliber.
It started with Vlad Goldin. May recruited him to FAU for the 2021-22 season, inheriting a freshman who had logged fewer than 50 minutes of college basketball. By the time Goldin was a senior, May had transformed him into one of the most efficient big men in the country — averaging 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and shooting 67.3% from the field. When May made the jump to Michigan in 2024, Goldin followed, and May immediately added another seven-footer in Danny Wolf. Wolf averaged 13.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, earned Big Ten honors, and helped Michigan finish 27-10 on their way to the Sweet 16. The blueprint was taking shape, and May knew he was onto something.
But that was just the beginning. For the 2025-26 season, May constructed one of the most physically imposing rosters in recent college basketball history. He landed one of the top transfers in the portal in Yaxel Lendeborg, who had averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds as a power forward at UAB. Rather than play Lendeborg at the four, May went out and added not one but two seven-footers — Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara — sliding Lendeborg to the three. The roster was unlike anything college basketball had seen.
What makes this even more impressive is that none of it was a sure thing. Johnson Jr. had averaged just 7.0 points per game at Illinois the prior season and had not made a single three-pointer at the college level. Mara had played only 13.1 minutes per game at UCLA. On paper, there were real questions. In practice, May answered all of them. Johnson Jr. averaged 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, knocked down 12 three-pointers on the season, proved more than capable of holding down the four, and is now set for a payday in the NBA. Mara won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game — and he too will be in the NBA this fall. By any measure, it was a transfer portal masterclass.
Michigan went 37-3 and won the National Championship, dominating March from start to finish behind their size and physicality. It was the blueprint validated at the highest level.
Now, May is running it back. Michigan has reloaded the front court with two top-25 portal big men in Moustapha Thiam and JP Estrella. Thiam averaged 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in his sophomore season at Cincinnati and projects as the starting center. Estrella averaged 10.0 points and 5.4 rebounds at Tennessee and brings strong defensive presence to pair with his size. Both fit the mold perfectly.
Dusty May is the man with a plan — and the plan is working.
