Michigan AD Warde Manuel says Dusty May’s new contract had ‘nothing to do’ with Indiana opening

After the MSU game Saturday night, Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel spoke to reporters about head coach Dusty May’s new contract, which he says had “nothing to do” with the opening at Indiana:

It always sucks to lose a rivalry game, as the Michigan Wolverines did last night to No. 14 Michigan State, 75-62. But fans did receive good news prior to the game that head coach Dusty May agreed to a new multi-year contract to keep him in Ann Arbor through the 2029-30 season.

The details of the contract were reported Friday night by Matt Norlander of CBS Sports . May will get a pay raise of $1 million annually, pay bumps for his staff, an increase in program resources (NIL included), and a $7.5 million buyout. The contract is not official yet, but it’s only a matter of time before it is.

Speaking with reporters following the MSU game, Athletic Director Warde Manuel said he had a great conversation May and his agent, and that May is not the kind of coach that “pounds his fist on the table” when it comes to demanding more.

The timing of this new deal is curious, as May — a student manager under Bob Knight at Indiana — was recently asked about the Indiana vacancy . His name has been swirling around Indiana blogs for weeks now, much like how Jim Harbaugh rumors became #content every offseason during his time at Michigan.

But Manuel said the noise from Bloomington had nothing to do with getting this extension done now.

“I actually told Dusty when I talked to him about a week ago, ‘First of all it’s been a great season, I’m proud of you. You’ve accomplished far more than I ever thought you would at this point in your tenure here.’ But what made me mad is we decided to talk about this a week before we went to Indiana and all that started,” Manuel said. “I want to assure you all that this has nothing to do with a reaction to that. This is a decision after talking to President Ono and talking through this with my basketball administrator, Doug Gnodtke, that this is what we wanted to do.

“This is a great day, but I want to assure people that this has nothing to do with (Indiana’s job opening).”

Despite what Manuel said, it’s fair to assume the Indiana rumors put pressure on Michigan to get the deal done quicker, considering what seemed like genuine interest from Indiana gave May leverage.

It’s rare in college basketball — and in sports in general — for a head coach to get a contract extension before their first season is even over. But that just speaks to how quickly May has turned things around. The Wolverines are one of the best teams in the Big Ten, are a dark horse national title contender , and perhaps most importantly, fans care about the program again.

In my three years of covering games at Crisler Center in person, I’ve never seen the student line for tickets be so long. The Wolverines have sold out nearly every game this season — a member of the event staff told me Friday night that Crisler Center hasn’t been this full since John Beilein graced the sidelines. High praise for a first-year head coach.

“Everything,” Manuel said when asked about what gave him the confidence to give May a new contract so soon. “When I met with him 11 months ago and talked to him, he’s everything he talked about wanting to be for this team, his players, this community, the connection to our donors, our president, our fans, students.

“Everything he’s done with the program — and then you look at the development of the team and the way they’ve gelled together. It is about what he has brought, and I just wanted to make sure he knew how much I appreciated it and wanted him to be here and get a new contract.”

Say what you want about Manuel’s tenure, but he deserves praise for moving with urgency, both to sign May initially and to get this new deal done now. To see the program go from worst to contending for the Big Ten title in one season is truly remarkable.

Manuel expects May to be at Michigan longer than five years, concluding his brief media availability by saying that he’s glad he’s seeing his vision after hiring May through .

“The one thing we have is full trust in each other,” Manuel said. “When we both came to agreement, we knew (we could) both commit to that and make sure that he moves forward with this program knowing how much we want him here.”