National champion Dusty May shares stage with Jalen Rose, Tom Izzo, Greg Kelser at Mackinac Policy Conference

Just outside the 332,500-square foot Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, which opened July 10, 1887 and features the world’s largest porch, a panel of leaders in sport gathered as part of the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference. Michigan head coach Dusty May, former U-M player and NBA star Jalen Rose, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo and former MSU standout Greg Kelser joined host Brad Galli to discuss the Final Four returning to Detroit in 2027.

Roster building for the 2026-27 season ramped up beginning when the transfer portal opened at midnight April 7, less than an hour after Michigan received the national championship trophy on stage at Lucas Oil Stadium following a 69-63 victory over Connecticut, but it’s finally time for May’s schedule to slow down a bit. The 49-year-old coached at Team USA’s training camp in Colorado Springs beginning late last week ahead of the U18 FIBA Americup, will drop off his son, Charlie May, in Athens, Ga., as he becomes a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs on the 30th and has some time off to follow.

But first, a stop in Mackinac Island, home to less than 600 year-round residents but a vacation and convention destination for nearly 1 million people annually. In a short period of time, just over two years after he was hired as Michigan’s coach, May is one of the most prominent sports figures in the state.

“I feel like that’s an honor that’s earned over time, and just happy to be a contributor to making our state, our university and everything around it better,” May said from the Tea Garden Tent on the lawn of the hotel when asked if he feels like an “ambassador” for Detroit and the state of Michigan.

But make no mistake, he is “national champion Dusty May” wherever he goes now, something that Rose reminded the crowd toward the beginning of the discussion.

“First off, I just need this room to give a hand clap for the 2026 national champion University of Michigan Wolverines,” Rose exclaimed, eliciting a huge cheer from the audience. “We need to do that first!”

Rose has been a vocal supporter of May’s over the last two years. Notably, he and four teammates — Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King — appeared on an alternate ‘Fab Five’ broadcast of the Final Four win over Arizona.

“It’s been tough, because I was a super fan,” May said of Rose’s support. “I grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, under an AAU program called Bloomington Red. And one year when they were the Fab Five, we convinced the director to change it for one year to Bloomington Blue, and we had a ‘B’ on our leg, wore black socks. About this much leg showing.

“Coach Akeem [Miskdeen] on our staff was laughing because when these guys were waiting on us at the tunnel, he said, ‘I’ve never hugged a man longer than I just hugged Ray Jackson.’ 

“And just following their pro careers and seeing what kind of people they are and how they give back and how they’re still connected as a group, that’s ultimately what it is, for these guys, their teammates to have lifelong relationships, go through something incredibly difficult together. It’s stood the test of time.”

“And thank you for not only bridging the gap [between generations of Michigan basketball] but delivering the goods,” Rose said. “And the way you handle yourself with class and intellect is something that we can all embody, so we’re grateful for you.”

Later in the same answer, Rose added: “Again, shout out to the 2026 national champions! I don’t know about Tom Izzo, but I woke up feeling like a national champion today. Love you, Coach.”

Minutes later, Izzo, who led his team to a national championship last century, got his own lighthearted barb in at Rose.

Izzo: Love Jalen. It will remain, though, three champions and a wannabe.
Rose: But only one of us up here is a doctor. 
Izzo: What’s that from?
Rose: From the University of Michigan!
Izzo: Well, I want you to know that I spoke at our graduation. I’m a doctor, too.

Izzo then praised the former Wolverine star, whom he competed against as an assistant coach at MSU when Rose played at Michigan, for his work in the Detroit community. Rose’s tuition-free, open enrollment high school — the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy — is about to wrap up its 15th school year.

“No, but I do have to give him credit,” Izzo said. “Even what he’s done with the school he’s got, and I learned from a couple of people today that, that is growing.

“That’s part of ownership, and what I do feel, and you asked Dusty a tough question, because it’s only his second year, but I feel ownership. I’m from the UP. I’m from as far from Detroit, but I take pride in what we do here.

“I grew up watching Dave Bing play, and I got a chance when we were in the Final Four [in Detroit in 2009] he was the mayor there, I got a chance to meet and sit down with him, and what an incredible human being. But just think of the pride he had. The boxers, I’ve gotten to meet a lot of the boxers. So it’s been an incredible journey, and Detroit, what they saw is not what they’ll see.

“I mean, it has changed a lot. It’s incredible what everybody’s done, and there’s nothing better than when the Red Wings, the Lions, the Tigers and the Pistons are doing well, and Michigan and Michigan State. We have something here that very, very few states have. And that’s what’s cool. What we have here, we have to take advantage of it in the next 11 months.”

May agrees that Detroit has taken major strides since the 2009 Final Four. Then, he was an assistant coach at UAB about to take a job on staff at Louisiana Tech, attending the spectacle.

“It’s certainly changed since the last time I was there [for a Final Four] as a fan,” the Michigan coach said. “I think we stayed in Dearborn. Most of the coaches were up in Windsor, [Ontario, Canada]. With coaches, they just want to be downtown, where they can walk and hit the clinics and see all of their coaching friends, so if they’re all spread out … and now, it seems like Detroit is ready to capitalize and take advantage of this situation.

“The NCAA has become a punching bag lately, justifiably so in a lot of areas, but the one thing they do is put on an event — and this is the greatest event in sports — so we have to be ready to capitalize.”

Michigan Wolverines looking to capitalize, too

And May is intent on working so that his Michigan team can capitalize by having a home crowd — and rewarding the fans — in the Final Four in Detroit. If the Wolverines make it, they’ll add a piece of the floor with the Final Four logo onto the wall at the William Davidson Player Development Center.

“The floor up on the wall is a nice touch to the practice facility,” May said. “We look forward to adding another banner in Crisler with Jalen and the guys on it sooner than later. But to add one that says ‘Detroit’ in our facility, in our arena would be even more special.”

May is confident in the roster he’s built going into year three at Michigan.

“Well, we never dreamed that we’d lose the two big guys early to the draft, but because of the way they played, we were able to replace them with two bigs out of the portal, and then we have a great backcourt returning with [sophomore] Trey McKenney from Flint, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, and then [senior] Elliot Cadeau, our point guard who really grew into the catalyst of our group.

“So we’re excited to compete again and see what we can become. We have the pieces to have a really good team, and so it’ll just be a matter of whether we can come together like we did last year.”