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EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 30: Head coach Dusty May of the Michigan Wolverines looks on during warm ups before a game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on January 30, 2026 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Michigan Wolverines are officially searching for their next head coach, as Dusty May is off to the NBA to coach the Dallas Mavericks. May accomplished a lot in just two seasons, winning the Big Ten Tournament in 2024-25, and then winning the regular-season conference title and the national title this past year. With all his success in such a short amount of time, where does he sit among the all-time head coaches in Ann Arbor?
Here are our five best coaches in program history.
No. 1 John Beilein, 2007-19
- Record: 428-278 (.650)
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 9
- Final Fours: 2
- National Championships: 0 (2 runner-ups)
- Big Ten championships: 2
- Big Ten Tournament championships: 2
The program’s modern savior, John Beilein took over a program that had made only one NCAA Tournament appearance (1998) in the previous 11 seasons. He made it in his second campaign and never looked back, establishing the Wolverines as a force in the Big Ten and national landscape, largely guiding the program to what it represents today.
No, Beilein never won a national title, but a pair of appearances, five trips to the second weekend, and his technical brilliance — always seeming to muster every last ounce of production out of his players — earn him the top spot.
No. 2 Dusty May, 2024-26
- Record: 64-13 (.831)
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 2
- Final Fours: 1
- National Championships: 1
- Big Ten championships: 1
- Big Ten Tournament championships: 1
May leaves a puzzling legacy in Ann Arbor. On the one hand, he accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in his brief stint, capturing a Big Ten regular season championship, a Big Ten Tournament championship and a national championship.
His rapid rise from Florida Atlantic and masterful use of the transfer portal set unprecedented standards in the collegiate ranks. However, May also coached only 77 games at Michigan and now leaves a program he built up in a tumultuous situation.
No. 3 Steve Fisher, 1989-97
- Record: 266-184 (.692)
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 7
- Final Fours: 3
- National Championships: 1 (2 runner-ups)
- Big Ten championships: 0
A complicated tenure in Ann Arbor, Fisher took over late in 1989 before helping the Glen Rice-led Wolverines to the mountaintop. Fisher was no one-year wonder, though, establishing Michigan as NCAA Tournament regulars and bringing in the Fab Five — the group whose impact still hangs heavily 30 years later.
Fisher was also dismissed for a recruiting scandal with booster Ed Martin, leaving the program in disarray until the aforementioned Beilein showed up mop in hand. Fisher likely jumps up a spot or two if the Fab Five win either of the national final bouts.
No. 4 Dave Strack, 1960-68
- Record: 202-113 (.559)
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 3
- Final Fours: 2
- National Championships: 0 (1 runner-up)
- Big Ten championships: 3
Strack was the original great Michigan coach, helping put it on the map in the ’60s after a decade of mediocrity.
No. 5 Johnny Orr, 1968-80
- Record: 322-209 (.649)
- NCAA Tournament appearances: four in 12 seasons
- Final Fours: one
- National Championships: zero, one runner-up
- Big Ten championships: two
Orr took the baton from Strack and kept the program in a fine place, making four straight NCAA Tournaments from 1974-77 and fell to that vaunted 1976 Indiana Hoosiers squad in the National Championship.
Where would you place May among the all-time head coaches for the Michigan men’s basketball program? Let me know in the comments below.
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