Michigan basketball just won the national championship. That has rival fans triggered to the point that they are bringing back the tired narrative that Dusty May bought a team from the transfer portal.
The reason you hear this coming only from rival fans, who just can't stand to see Michigan succeed, is because the narrative simply isn't true.
Yaxel Lendeborg was a superstar added out of the transfer portal. But that recruitment wasn't about money. He entered the NBA draft, which was Michigan's real competition. May still went all in on a guy who might never play a minute in Ann Arbor. He put his team on hold for months.
Yaxel eventually decided to come. It wasn't about buying a player. May was willing to recruit Yaxel in a way no one else was. That's why Michigan got him.
And the other portal additions were far from "mercenaries."
Aday Mara and Morez Johnson started nine combined games last season. Mara played under 20 minutes a game for the UCLA Bruins. Dusty May landed him and made him a focal point of one of the best defenses in college basketball history. Maybe the best.
Morez Johnson had zero buzz as a first-round pick before the season. May brought out the best in him, and now, he'll be in the NBA next season.
Beyond all that, May just won a national championship with a point guard North Carolina didn't want. Most people thought it was a mistake to turn the keys over to Cadeau.
The truth was, he just needed a change of scenery. Cadeau was Michigan's most important player in the Final Four. The Wolverines don't win the national title without him.
Michigan basketball transfers should be celebrated
Gary Parrish of CBS Sports was one of those analysts who explained how what Michigan did should be "celebrated" instead of being ridiculed.
"That Michigan team is filled with young men who got in the transfer portal and found a better situation for themselves and then came together to build an awesome college basketball team... That's a story that should be celebrated."@GaryParrishCBS on @umichbball 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/88sDZGlQ3K
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) April 7, 2026
"That Michigan team is filled with young men who got in the transfer portal and found a better situation for themselves and then came together to build an awesome college basketball team... That's a story that should be celebrated," he said.
Dusty May got the best out of all four transfers. They got markedly better at Michigan, even Yaxel Lendeborg. You may not like the college basketball rules, but he's found a way to navigate the system instead of complaining about it.
The difference is stark, and the winning has just begun.