John Tondora

Phat Phat Brooks verbally committed to the Michigan men’s basketball team on May 14, 2023. Since then, the Grand Rapids native watched an infamously historic 8-24 season, the cessation of the rollercoaster Juwan Howard regime, and still, some 17 months and two days later, Brooks is finally ready to don a Maize and Blue jersey on Sunday.

It won’t count in the history books, but there was plenty on display for the Michigan men’s basketball team in their 44-point trouncing of Oakland University at Little Caeser’s Arena on Sunday. With 11 newcomers on the roster, and an entirely new staff, questions abounded surrounding the beginning of the Dusty May era.

In seven calendar days, Michigan men’s basketball coach Dusty May landed two four-star recruits in guard Winters Grady and New Zealand forward Oscar Goodman, while securing his first unofficial win over Oakland University by a whopping 44-point margin.

LJ Cason is the new kid on the block. It just doesn’t look that way.

Listed at 6-foot-8 and 230 lbs., at first glance, junior forward Will Tschetter would hardly be mistaken for a bruising football player. But as assistant coach Kyle Church sees it though, Tschetter has the gridiron mentality.

It was a tale of two halves. But for the Michigan men’s basketball team, it ended on a high note, and that’s all that matters. In a game that featured a little bit of everything — fast play, turnovers, and even a Frankie Collins rim rocker — the group secured its second win of the season over TCU in fickle fashion.

Dusty May, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Sam Walters met with the media after Michigan’s win over Tarleton State on Thursday.

On a Thursday night when Michigan Athletics’ eyes were turned elsewhere, perhaps the Michigan men’s basketball teams’ were, too. In a buy game that featured a little less ‘buying-in,’ the Wolverines trudged past Tarleton State 72-49 in a matchup that saw Michigan continuing to workshop the hiccups that have dragged it down thus far.

Justin Joyner, Tre Donaldson and Vlad Goldin met with the media this afternoon to talk about the first month of the season and preview Saturday’s Big Ten home opener against Iowa.

Dusty May nearly nailed it. Exactly one month and three days ago, sitting triumphantly backstage at the Crisler Center after a 101-53 trouncing of Cleveland State, the Michigan men’s basketball coach put it clearly.