The Lineup
BOOK EDITOR
Gene Myers
THE DETROIT NEWS
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Gary Miles
MANAGING EDITOR
Kevin J. Hardy
SPORTS EDITOR
Jim Russ
DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR
Daren Tomhave
BEAT REPORTER
James Hawkins
COLUMNISTS
Bob Wojnowski
John Niyo
REPORTERS
Connor Earegood
Tony Paul
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Robin Buckson
Daniel Mears
DIRECTOR OF PHOTO AND VIDEO
John T. Greilick
ASSISTANT MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
Andy Morrison
DETROIT FREE PRESS
EDITOR, VICE PRESIDENT
Nicole Avery Nichols
SPORTS EDITOR
Ryan Ford
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS
Marlowe Alter
Andrew Birkle
BEAT REPORTER
Tony Garcia
COLUMNISTS
Mitch Albom
Carlos Monarrez
Shawn Windsor
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Junfu Han
Eric Seals
David Rodriguez Muñoz
DIRECTOR OF PHOTO AND VIDEO
Melanie Maxwell
USA TODAY SPORTS
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Gene Myers
DESIGNERS
Joey Schaffer, Lee Benson
PROOFREADERS
Sherrill Amo, Heather Hewitt
SPECIAL THANKS
Alicia Del Gallo, Chris Thomas, Kate Ellsworth, Chris Fenison, Andy Harper, Steve Byrne, Clarissa Shine, Douglas McMurray, Jared Sábado-Hernández
About the book
“MAIZE THE ROOF” features the world’s best coverage of the Michigan Wolverines in words and pictures from the Great Lakes State’s two legendary news outlets, The Detroit News (152 years young) and the Detroit Free Press (194 years old). Each outlet, besides being a Michigan icon, belongs to the USA TODAY Network. Order print and digital subscriptions for the News and/or Free Press by calling 800-395-3300 or by going to subscribe.detroitnews.com/offers and subscribe.freep.com/offers.
On the cover
Two years after finishing 8-24, the Michigan Wolverines celebrated their second NCAA championship with a 69-63 victory over Connecticut on April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS
PREVIOUS PAGE: With a priceless souvenir in hand and a date in the Final Four ahead, Yaxel Lendeborg relished Michigan’s 32-point victory over Tennessee. He was selected the most outstanding player in the Midwest Region. JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS
OPPOSITE: After the trophy was awarded and the maize-and-blue confetti fell, coach Dusty May acknowledged the fans after the final snip of a net at Lucas Oil Stadium. In two seasons leading the Wolverines, May had a 64-13 record (.831). ROBIN BUCKSON / THE DETROIT NEWS
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.
Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. www.pediment.com • Printed in Canada.
This book is an unofficial account of the University of Michigan men’s basketball season by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News and is not endorsed by the NCAA or the University of Michigan.
26 90 122
CHAPTER ONE THE SEASON CHAPTER TWO THE TEAM CHAPTER THREE THE GLORY
the
on April 6,
Michigan celebrated winning
NCAA national championship against Connecticut at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
2026. JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS
THE DETROIT NEWS FOREWORD
Michigan’s legacy: A champion for the ages and the record pages
BOB WOJNOWSKI
IT HADN’T HAPPENED IN THE BIG Ten for 26 years. It hadn’t happened at Michigan for 37 years. The historic markers were everywhere, but the truth was, nothing like it ever had happened in college basketball.
From the deepest doldrums to the highest podiums, Michigan’s 2025-26 basketball team charted a course for the ages and the record pages. It wasn’t just that the Wolverines won it all — beating Connecticut to capture their first national championship since 1989 — but how they won it all, with a diverse collection that became a connection, interchangeable pieces that did things no championship team ever had done.
They won with five transfers in the starting lineup, unprecedented in any era but sharply executed with the new transfer portal. More than three decades after another Michigan team rode a famous five-freshman lineup to
the championship game, the Wolverines blazed a different trail. The Fab Five couldn’t quite finish the journey, but this quest couldn’t be stopped.
Dusty May arrived two years earlier after an 8-24 season that led to the firing of Juwan Howard. May wasn’t interested in waiting around, and he sought like-minded players looking for better fits, driven to prove themselves.
Yaxel Lendeborg came from AlabamaBirmingham, opting out of the NBA draft to be the centerpiece at Michigan. Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) and Aday Mara (UCLA) came, too, buying into May’s system built on versatility, selflessness and creativity.
May used unorthodox lineups with multiple big guys, each adept at passing and shot-blocking. With uncommon size and depth, and defense so suffocating, Michigan often wasn’t playing against opponents but against its own standards.
After the Wolverines destroyed Tennessee 95-62 to reach the Final Four, May’s plan was painted in vivid colors. It
BOB WOJNOWSKI, 64, HAS written for The Detroit News since 1989, and in fact, his first major assignment was to cover the 1989 Michigan basketball national champions. From the Steve Fisher-coached Wolverines to the 2026 Dusty May-led group, with the starstruck Fab Five in between. He also chronicled Michigan State’s 2000 basketball champions under Tom Izzo and all of the Spartans’ 28 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. A University of Michigan graduate, Wojnowski has columnized on the highs and lows of all Detroit pro teams — from Stanley Cup champions to NBA champions, from World Series disappointments to NFL playoff drama. The transfer-laden, defense-driven 2026 Wolverines certainly ranked among the most compelling runs.
OPPOSITE: With Connecticut finally vanquished 69-63, the Michigan Wolverines began their reign as NCAA champions. On the court for the final 1:49 were Elliot Cadeau, Roddy Gayle Jr., Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Trey McKenney. DANIEL MEARS / THE DETROIT NEWS
OPPOSITE: Five days after Michigan cut down the nets in Indianapolis, a championship parade was held in Ann Arbor. From the left: Elliot Cadeau, Howard Eisley Jr. and Aday Mara interacted with fans.
Michigan basketball commemorative prints are available for purchase. Scan the code to shop.
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JAMES HOLLAR / THE DETROIT NEWS
JAMES HOLLAR / THE DETROIT NEWS
was defensive destruction in the paint, which led to withering fast breaks, which led to 100-plus points in a staggering nine games.
“When you have all five guys playing a big, big part in beautiful basketball, it just feels so much greater for all of us,” May said. “And that became contagious, it became energizing and then it became a snowball that just kept going.”
Even before the Wolverines blasted Arizona 91-73 in the Final Four and then grinded past Connecticut 69-63 in the title game, they carried an air of invincibility/inevitability. While going 37-3 overall and 19-1 in the Big Ten, they won 29 games by double digits and an astonishing seven by 40-plus, a conference record.
On their way to the Big Ten’s first national title since Michigan State in 2000, it seemed only one obstacle could stop them, and it wasn’t championshiptoughened Connecticut. It was an injury, as they lost reserve guard L.J. Cason to a knee injury in late February. Then, the potential crusher against Arizona, when Lendeborg twisted a knee and ankle and left the court in tears.
Lendeborg hobbled through the championship game, scoring 13 points, but, true to the team’s makeup, others filled the gaps. Cadeau, essentially pushed out at North Carolina, was the fierce point guard who pushed the Wolverines and was selected the Final Four’s most outstanding player.
Nimari Burnett, the fifth transfer starter, arrived from Alabama three years earlier, and Roddy Gayle Jr. came from Ohio State two years earlier. In the title game, it was homegrown Trey McKenney,
the freshman from Flint, who drilled the clutch 3-pointer to seal it. When the team needed an energy boost, it was senior Will Tschetter providing it.
The Wolverines ended up at the top of the ladder, but the motivation was planted in defeat. In May’s first season, they went 27-10 but lost to super-quick Auburn in the NCAA Tournament. Earlier that year, they lost twice to super-tough Michigan State and knew they had to get better.
When this season dawned, most observers recognized Michigan had talent, but nobody had any idea of the connectivity. Then, in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas in November, the Wolverines unveiled their intentions with a three-game
obliteration no one ever had witnessed. They beat San Diego State (94-54) and Auburn (102-72), then dominated No. 10 Gonzaga 101-61, the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in U-M history.
That was the beginning of the dominance, dutifully announced by the charismatic Lendeborg: “Today, we put the world on notice that we’re here to be the best team in the nation.”
From there, Michigan backed the words and crushed the numbers, eclipsing numerous long-standing marks while going undefeated on the road in the Big Ten. They swept the rival Spartans. They did it unconventionally — with 6-foot-9
Lendeborg, 6-9 Johnson and 7-3 Mara across the frontline — and convincingly, as if they saw it coming all along.
Which was not the total truth, after early practices and a couple of tight games.
“Seeing the three-big lineup, we were thinking, why are we doing this?” Gayle said during the on-court celebration in Indianapolis. “A little second-guessing at first. But then in practice, it looked unstoppable.”
Looks never were deceiving with this team, as tightly connected and competitive as any champion ever. These Wolverines were indeed unstoppable and incomparable, leaving a mark for the ages.
DETROIT FREE PRESS FOREWORD
Better than Fab Five and in 1989, and arguably the best this century
SHAWN WINDSOR
SOME CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE WON on guile and a touch of luck. Some were won the first time a title team gathered. Michigan’s 2026 national championship team fell into the second category, even if injuries cut down the one team — Duke — that could have beaten the Wolverines in the NCAA Tournament. (Of note, the Blue Devils did beat the Wolverines, although barely, in the regular season.)
But those were the breaks of March Madness every year, and the Wolverines handled — quite easily and impressively — every team they took the court with.
And though Michigan beat Connecticut by a mere six points after running everyone else off the floor, at no point did it feel as if the Huskies had an actual chance. That was despite the Wolverines not making a 3-pointer until nearly midway through the second half and then making only one more the rest of the game.
In other words, Michigan was so good defensively it didn’t matter that it couldn’t shoot that night. That was memorable.
How memorable was the question.
In the aftermath of Michigan’s first NCAA championship since 1989, many observers were quick to point out the team’s historical dominance.
Former U-M coach John Beilein — who admitted his obvious bias, after taking two squads to the season’s final Monday — said it was the best team he had seen in decades. UConn coach Dan Hurley — less biased, at least toward the maize-andblue side — said the Wolverines were the best team he had coached against.
How you thought about this team no doubt depended on your age and your allegiances. And yet, this much was unequivocal:
We just witnessed one of the best teams in recent memory — and certainly since the turn of the century.
But before we judge this team against the other 24 champs, let’s rank it within
U-M’s history ... with some context.
In three decades, it’s not likely that the Transfer Five — Yaxel Lendeborg, Elliot Cadeau, Aday Mara, Morez Johnson Jr. and Nimari Burnett — would plop into director’s chairs, grab mics and chitchat with America from the site of a Final Four. Even if the Wolverines were playing for another title.
Nor was it likely they would star in a documentary, no matter how dominant their run to the NCAA title was.
SHAWN WINDSOR HAS BEEN at the Detroit Free Press for 26 years and an award-winning sports columnist since 2014. He covered Michigan State basketball for two seasons, coached AAU and high school hoops for three seasons and still thought he could dunk if he had the knees.
OPPOSITE: On the confetti-strewn court at Lucas Oil Stadium, point guard Elliot Cadeau posed for posterity with the NCAA championship trophy and Michigan’s cheerleaders. He also was selected the Final Four’s most outstanding player. JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS
OPPOSITE: During the championship parade, coach Dusty May and his wife, Anna, rode on an old-time firetruck from the Michigan Firehouse Museum located in nearby Ypsilanti’s Depot Town.
DAVID RODRIGUEZ MUÑOZ / DETROIT FREE PRESS
Michigan basketball commemorative prints are available for purchase.
Scan the code to shop.
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Their caché wasn’t cultural like the Fab Five’s was in the early 1990s.
The Transfer Five had their edge, though, in one critical way: They cut down the nets. The Fab Five didn’t.
And while the latter remained singular in the annals of college basketball —for influence, for cultural endurance — they ranked behind Lendeborg and Co. in the list of the Wolverines’ best teams. Had to.
One team won it all, the other didn’t (despite getting two cracks at it). That argument was simple.
Less so was the answer to this question: Was the original Shock the World team — the 1989 Wolverines who ran through March Madness under interim coach Steve Fisher — better than the
current one?
One member of that ’89 team – Terry Mills, an ahead-of-his-time big, thanks to his shooting touch — wouldn’t dignify the question in Indianapolis. I couldn’t blame him. The best players in that era stayed in college for three and four years.
Naturally, Mills felt the 1989 champs got through a tougher era. And they did, relatively speaking. But was the Glen Riceled group a tougher team? Or, for our purposes, a better team?
Those Wolverines certainly didn’t defend like the 2026 group, and they came nowhere close to dominating like the 2026 group.
If nothing else, that made the team that won it all in 2026 the best in Michigan history.
Now back to the larger question: Where did the 2026 champs rate among the recent greats?
Of the 24 other champs this century (we’re leaving out the 2000 Michigan State Spartans, as they started their title run in 1999, and there was no champ in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), I saw five challengers to the 2026 Wolverines’ potential crowning as the GOAC — Greatest Of All Century: 2001 Duke, 2007 Florida, 2009 North Carolina, 2018 Villanova and 2024 Connecticut. All had something to offer. The Blue Devils were explosive and stacked with future pros, including Jay Williams, Carlos Boozer, Shane Battier and Mike Dunleavy Jr. Williams’ motorcycle injuries ruined his NBA career, and that hurt how that Duke team was remembered.
The Gators had the best frontline in modern history with Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer and won consecutive titles.
The Tar Heels had the largest average margin of victory since 2000 and not a single close call in the tourney. They were also stacked with future pros, though none as good as Boozer.
The Wildcats were an offensive force and had four players shoot better than 40% on 3-pointers. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges led a brigade of future NBAers.
And, finally, there were the Huskies,
led by the best rim protector in recent memory — Donovan Clingan — and the best perimeter defender in recent memory — Stephon Castle. Yet as good as they were defensively, they were better offensively, ranking No. 1 in efficiency (per KenPom) that season.
In my eyes, balance mattered, and the Wolverines had more of it than Duke, Florida, North Carolina and Villanova. They also had more depth than Villanova, a better backcourt — and a comparable frontcourt — than Florida and defended better than Duke and North Carolina.
The numbers back this up — though North Carolina and Villanova had a better total margin of victory during their six-game runs through the tournament. That left Hurley’s Huskies from two years ago. Not quite as good as U-M defensively but a touch better offensively. KenPom favored the Wolverines, with their highest-ever net rating (+39.7). But U-M didn’t beat a team as formidable as 2024 Purdue — think this year’s Boilermakers (who beat the Wolverines in early March) with 7-foot national player of the year Zach Edey added to the mix.
If you’re fixated on how the 2026 Huskies kept it close in the title game, despite not being nearly as good as UConn of two years ago, then give the nod to the 2024 Huskies as the GOACs.
And yet if Lendeborg and L.J. Cason were healthy, U-M wins by at least 15 — and likely more. A victory like that might have ended the discussion.
So, in that spirit, let’s call a game pitting the 2024 Huskies against the 2026 Wolverines a coin flip — and then imagine how fun that would be.
01 The Season
AFTER MICHIGAN ROSE FROM THE ASHES IN YEAR 1 UNDER MAY, EXPECTATIONS SOAR TO NATTY OR BUST
OPPOSITE: The Wolverines chanted “Hail Dusty” while displaying an American flag featuring a Chef May image after a 90-80 victory at Crisler Center in the regular-season finale. On this senior day, Michigan completed a season sweep of Michigan State for the first time since 2014 and finished the Big Ten season at 19-1, four games ahead of runners-up MSU, Illinois and Nebraska. JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS
To make its run, Michigan counts on bigger being better and a sense of shared sacrifice
JAMES HAWKINS • OCT. 30, 2025
EARLIER THIS FALL, VLAD
Goldin and Danny Wolf were on campus for a celebration recognizing last season’s Big Ten Tournament title.
Before the big men reunited with their former teammates to be honored on the field at Michigan Stadium during a football game, Goldin and Wolf dropped in to watch a basketball practice next door at Crisler Center.
“Both of those guys commented about how physically big and strong we were and just how much we were improved as a program in one calendar year,” said coach Dusty May, who agreed with their assessment. “I don’t think anyone on last year’s team or this year’s team would disagree that we have more natural ability, more proven success on this year’s team than last.” That was saying something considering what the Wolverines achieved in May’s first season — 27 victories, 14 conference victories, a second-place finish in the standings, the first Big Ten Tournament title since 2018 and a trip
to the Sweet 16.
It all made for a remarkable turnaround, with the program coming off a historically awful 8-24 season before May arrived. But in Year 2 under May, the Wolverines had loftier goals and a collection of talent that had them dreaming bigger.
May and his staff followed the same
freshman at Illinois, and Aday Mara, who came into his own late last season at UCLA. And they landed the top player in this year’s transfer class in Yaxel Lendeborg, a two-way star from UAB picked as a preseason AllAmerican by several national outlets.
That quartet of high-impact transfers joined a core of four returning
“I think our ceiling is the best team in the country. … I think we have a perfect fit every position. ”
ELLIOT CADEAU
formula it did a year ago — pursuing players from winning programs in the transfer portal — to address roster holes and needs. They went out and got a playmaker and pass-first point guard in Elliot Cadeau from North Carolina. They brought in a pair of big men from the conference in Morez Johnson Jr., who showed plenty of promise as a
players — Nimari Burnett, L.J. Cason, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Will Tschetter — who knew what the coaching staff expected and a freshman group led by a pair of top-100 recruits who could contribute right away in Trey McKenney and Winters Grady. Add it all up and there was a lot to like.
“Even though statistically we lost
our top three guys, the four we brought back were integral in the success we had,” May said. “We have a nucleus of guys that have experienced it. You solve some of the physicality issues in the offseason recruiting, and we feel like we did that with Morez. Aday is familiar with the Big Ten. … Those big guys, each year they’re in college, they tend to improve.
“Yaxel being an older player that’s very experienced playing college basketball, that should help. And Elliot can help, it’s not as if the ACC is a pushover league, either. … We have a lot of guys that have done it. They’ve walked the walk.”
The Wolverines also weren’t afraid to talk the talk and embrace the high expectations that come with being ranked seventh in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
“I think our ceiling is the best team in the country,” said Cadeau, who won 52 games and an ACC regular-season championship during his two years with the Tar Heels. “I’ve seen a lot of teams throughout my college career. I
OPPOSITE: Although only an exhibition game, Yaxel Lendeborg experienced major-college basketball at one of its meccas, New York’s Madison Square Garden. He recorded a double-double — 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, 10 rebounds — as Michigan beat St. John’s 96-94 in overtime before 13,287 fans. WENDELL CRUZ / IMAGN IMAGES
played on a No. 1 seed team, and I think this definitely could be a No. 1 seed team. I think we have a perfect fit every position.”
While Michigan will have guys coming off bench who could start elsewhere, May and his staff must allocate minutes, tinker with different combinations and figure out who played best with whom.
“We do have a deep lineup,” May said. “There’s going to be shared sacrifice. There has to be more fulfillment in the guy to the right and the left. That has to be our team. … Our roster has to be OK with it because we’re chasing something bigger than personal ambition or individual accolades.”
Michigan wouldn’t just be a deeper team this season. May hinted in the summer the Wolverines could be “even more unique” than last season, when he threw a curveball at opponents with 7-footers Wolf and Goldin in pick-and-rolls. There could be times when they go even bigger and smaller than they did a year ago.
There also was a belief that the Wolverines were built to be better in just about every facet, even on defense after ranking No. 12 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency last season.
Most notably, Michigan expected to be much more effective at protecting the rim with Johnson and Mara on the interior. There was optimism they would be more aggressive on the ball and put more pressure on teams.
The cherry on top was Lendeborg, a two-time American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year and a Swiss
Army knife who can guard every position in a disruptive manner.
“When you add in the IQ that we have on this team, the playmaking with Elliot, with Yax, with Roddy, and the shooting that me, Will and the rest of the guys offer,” Burnett said, “I think it’s going to be hard to stop us.”
The perimeter shooting remained a concern. Outside of Burnett and Tschetter, nobody was a proven high-percentage, high-volume 3-point shooter at the high-major level. Yet, the Wolverines didn’t have to look far for a blueprint if the outside shots didn’t drop.
“We’re going to have a huge, strong, tough front line, so the offensive glass, getting the ball into paint, being tough, being physical, I think that’ll be a big part of what we do,” said assistant coach Kyle Church. “On nights where the 3s aren’t falling, we still have a plan of attack and we can find ways to win games, even if it’s not the prettiest.”
The way May saw it, if your team was competing for a Big Ten title, your team was competing for a national title. And he said Michigan had everything it needed to be in that discussion.
“I love our team,” he said. “I think we have a really high ceiling. There’s nothing that makes me say, ‘Man, we just don’t have enough of this, or we don’t have enough of that to beat any team.’
“I don’t see why we can’t compete with every single team in the country on any given night.”
LEFT: In his Michigan debut, point guard Elliot Cadeau scored 14 points and doled out seven assists in a 100-98 exhibition loss to Cincinnati. LON HORWEDEL / THE DETROIT NEWS
MICHIGAN’S 2025-26 ROSTER
Dusty May
Head coach
Mike Boynton Jr.
Assistant coach
Justin Joyner
Assistant coach
Akeem Miskdeen
Assistant coach
Kyle Church Assistant coach/ general manager
Drew Williamson Assistant coach/director of player development
Brandon Gilbert Special assistant to the head coach
Matt Aldred Head strength and conditioning coach
KT Harrell Director of basketball operations
Luke
Chris Williams
Hannah
THE CRYSTAL BALLS
The Big Ten
In Dusty May’s debut season in 2024-25, Michigan finished second in the Big Ten behind Michigan State and beat Wisconsin for the tournament title. For 2025-26, in a preseason poll of 28 media members from across the conference’s coast-to-coast footprint, the Wolverines were picked to finish second again. Purdue received 25 first-place votes and U-M the other three in the poll conducted by the IndyStar and Columbus Dispatch.
USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
The Wolverines were pegged for seventh in the coaches preseason poll. Purdue topped the field with 18 of the 31 first-place votes, followed by Houston with 12 votes and Florida, the defending champion, with one vote.
NO. 1 SEED MICHIGAN 69, NO. 2 SEED CONNECTICUT 63
AT LUCAS OIL STADIUM, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Michigan Madness! Wolverines triumph in rock fight for second national championship
JAMES HAWKINS
• APRIL 6, 2026
NOBODY SAID WINNING A NAtional championship was going to be easy.
After steamrolling their way through the NCAA Tournament with one high-scoring blowout after another, the Michigan Wolverines found themselves locked in a slow-paced, low-possession slugfest in the season’s final game.
They didn’t make a single jumper in the first half. They made only two 3-pointers the entire game. They shot the ball worse than they have in any of their 40 contests. Yaxel Lendeborg wasn’t close to 100% healthy and clearly unable to play like an All-American. In the end, it didn’t matter. Michigan, as it had all season long, managed to overcome it all by digging in on defense and grinding past Connecticut 69-63 in the national championship game
at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“All year we’ve been finding ways to win,” said point guard Elliot Cadeau, who was selected the Final Four’s most outstanding player after scoring a game-high 19 points. “We weren’t making shots … but we’ve constantly been finding ways to win all year, no matter how everybody is playing.”
Lendeborg, who sprained his left knee and ankle in the semifinal rout of Arizona, started, gutted it out for a team-leading 36 minutes and managed 13 points. Morez Johnson Jr. recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Trey McKenney hit a critical 3-pointer and two free throws in the final two minutes.
The top-seeded Wolverines (37-3) shot a season-low 38.2% from the field and a season-worst 13.3% from 3-point range (2-for-15). But they made up for it by going 25-for-28 at the free-throw line to capture the program’s second
national championship. Since the first in 1989, an overtime victory against Seton Hall, Michigan had lost four times in the title game: to Duke in 1992, North Carolina in 1993, Louisville in 2013 and Villanova in 2018.
Michigan also ended the Big Ten’s national title drought — one that dated to 2000, when Michigan State won it — and tied Illinois’ 2005 record for the most victories by a Big Ten team in a season.
“It feels really good to be a champion, to be on top of the world, man,” Lendeborg said.
The Wolverines led by four points at halftime despite not making a shot outside the paint. That trend continued out of the break as they slowly stretched their lead to double digits.
Cadeau drew point guard Solo Ball’s fourth foul at the 16:20 mark on an and-1 layup for a 38-31 lead, the game’s first seven-point advantage. A minute
later, Lendeborg scored on an and-1 finish in the lane for a 41-33 lead. The Huskies (34-6) committed five turnovers during a five-minute stretch.
McKenney made Michigan’s first jumper on a step-back shot at the 14:22 mark. Cadeau soon followed with the team’s first 3-pointer on its 11th attempt from deep to make it 48-37 with 12:47 to play.
Michigan’s defense, meanwhile, turned it up a notch. Johnson swatted a floater in the lane. Lendeborg blocked a shot from behind at the rim. Johnson pinned another layup attempt on the glass on an inbounds play. UConn made just one field goal over a four-minute stretch.
Unlike their other five NCAA Tournament games, won by an average of 21.6 points, the Wolverines couldn’t put away the Huskies, who won backto-back NCAA titles in 2023 and 2024. After UConn cut the deficit to five
OPPOSITE: Michigan coaches, players and a few special guests gathered around the 2026 NCAA basketball championship trophy on a makeshift stage at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. With their 69-63 victory over Connecticut, the Wolverines became the 16th school to win at least two titles. ROBIN BUCKSON / THE DETROIT NEWS APRIL 6, 2026 W
Trey McKenney
Morez Johnson Jr.
Yaxel Lendeborg and Trey McKenney
ROBIN BUCKSON / THE DETROIT NEWS
JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS
GRACE HOLLARS / INDYSTAR
ROBERT DEUTSCH / IMAGN IMAGES
BOB DONNAN / IMAGN IMAGES
Aday Mara
Elliot Cadeau
JUNFU HAN / DETROIT FREE PRESS