Hour 1: What Statement Did Michigan Make With Title Win?

from 30 for 30 podcasts Brian Pada senior defensive lineman from Miami gunned down An hour before he died he was on the phone This might be a hit you want the truth they just want a conviction being placed in your rest We had a killer amongst us murder at the you listen now You got Michigan with a title on the line The lead favors Michigan Michigan start to take control a little bit Michigan the 2026 men's basketball national champions And We have a champion. Hello everyone. Welcome to first take Steven A is here Hello, I am Shay coordinate and look who's joining us for many an apple. Yes, Sean Farnham. Good morning to you, buddy How are you? What's going on, bro? I? Am great a champion was crowned last night and I get to hang out with you two this morning doesn't get much better than that You don't know you know, I mean you're my buddy and all of that stuff We don't get to be in studio together. I know I know what you're gonna say usually I would hold you to a dress code, but you on the road It's early out there and by the way you've been working all night, so I forgive you. That's right Good news. Okay. Thank you. I got to get on a flight right afterwards and I know we just you know the deal You got to go all the way back to California this poor guy. I mean my goodness. I know it's a travesty Farnie we'll get to you in a minute Michigan head coach Dusty May is actually gonna join us here on first take shortly But let's begin with his Wolverines because yes hail to the victors the Michigan Wolverines are your national champions that gives them Their second title in school history their first chip in nearly four decades and gives the big ten their first men's championships in 2000 Elliot Kado at 19 points He was named most outstanding player after the Wolverines defeated a Yukon team that had won two championships in three years Here was the axle-ending board who came into this game little banged up after the win last night Man they might still be calling us mercenaries Hey, but we the hardest player team in national basketball We're the best team in college basketball and want to be one of the greats ever Barney we'll start with you you're there in Indianapolis. What statement did Michigan make last night? I Think that there's a couple of statements that were made by this team You know you talk about where would this team rank all time in Michigan basketball history? I think they are the best team To ever play at Michigan. They're not the most influential team, of course That's always gonna be the fab five but this team and the way that they competed the way they gelled together the way They dominated throughout the course of this NCAA tournament They made it a big-time statement and that's a direct reflection of the guy You're gonna have on in less than 30 minutes With Dusty May and and we talked about a lot of legends leaving our game in recent years K Roy Williams Jim Bayhine Leonard Hamilton Tony Bennett J. Wright Bruce Pearl, but the reality is the new crop of young coaches that are coming up Are great leaders and Dan Hurley's one of them Dusty May just after his now second final four gets to hoist up a national championship Trophy and it moves him up into that echelon of a very rarefied air of active coaches that have won a national title And I think as long as he's on the sideline in Michigan, they're gonna be relevant at the national level listen Couldn't echo it any better than that. I mean listen We have a conversation later about the big 10 and what have you and what it means But for Michigan basketball to be at this place anytime we've talked about Michigan even though they won the national championship in 1989 we've religiously lived off of the fab five and and you know what culture Changers they were and what they brought to the table and we have profound respect and appreciation for all the great things that they did And it was great seeing them at the final four But they didn't close the deal and back-to-back national championship games and neither did anyone else for Michigan until last night And to me personally, you know Sean what stood out to me with this was this kid. Yaxa London bird London boy He was hurt ankle hurt knee hurt and he was out there and listen Really do I get affected by halftime in the future? I don't really care. It doesn't matter to me. But when they asked him at halftime, he's like, I'm terrible I am he said I feel terrible. I'm playing terrible. He said but I'm just trying. I'm in so much pain But I this is the national championship I mean you could not have been more honest You could not have been more honest and then you see Kado and the way that he played had 19 points You know I when I had questions about Michigan coming into this into this tournament I thought that they would have the number one seed that would get knocked off when they was asking Which number one seed do you give the least amount of chance? So I'm thinking michigan because I didn't like how their backcourt look when they went against duke in the season Sean I had trepidation questions about them for getting a kato didn't play and I'm looking at it. I'm saying Look, I I I I I I went on national television national radio and I apologize to the michigan wolverines I saw a couple nc double a tourney again. I like I didn't see that Something's up and I'm just looking at them right now. They've got size I mean when you got a mares and you've got mara and you see these brothers the way they how big they were how imposing they were And then defensively the way they can get up in you Michigan showed me whatever way you want to do this we can do this We're going to beat you and you saw that coming into the national title game because of the way they completely Annihilated arizona, but you give them credit where credit is due when you look at the national champion You want to see a team and definitively say to yourself This is the best team in the nation and that's what we saw last night michigan. Yeah the best team in the nation Their size was really overwhelming if you go ahead farney. Yeah To your point. I mean look they came in this nc double a tournament and through first like five games They were averaging 60 points per game in the paint and the free throw line They didn't make a three point shot in the first half of this game guys Right, they didn't make a three point shot But yet 88 percent of their points that they scored last night came either in the paint Or at the free throw line and it's guys like a daimara who who barely played at ucla Was kind of in the starting lineup not in the starting lineup and then look at the role and the impact they played In particular in that game against arizona the block shots the presence around the rim for him and morris johnson This was a team full of transfers, but it was a team It wasn't just one guy here one guy here with a personal goal It was coming together and understanding what it was going to take to accomplish a larger goal And that's what this whole thing is about you go back and look at indiana football and the way that they were able to do it The transfer portal is here. It's not going anywhere So this is what the makeup looks like and when it's right you can win a national championship when it's wrong You're not getting there But dusty may hit on every single transfer that he went after And they bought into the system and they executed that system perfectly almost all year long And that says something because look at listen to what shone just said if you if you're a college basketball fan Pay attention to what shone just said about coach may because what are you talking about you got to recruit You got to be on point with who you recruit You got to make sure you're bringing guys on board that buy into your program It's a risk because unlike before n il where you know what you're offering the scholarship They got a roster spot and that's about it But you're in control of the program now There's some level of control that the players have more so than they did in the past because of the investment that you made in them And how motivated you are as an institution to justify that investment a coach is now Essentially a gm as well because you got to make sure you execute on a multitude of components in order for things to fly straight And when you're trying to be a coach in today's game all of those things we we mentioned n il But we always talking about the players Transfer portal we're talking about the players But it's elevated the responsibilities that are now on the shoulders of the coach Because you got to make sure you recruit the right guy to justify the investment And on top of it all it's not just going out there to recruit them coming out of high school or whatever You're transferring from other schools. They don't have to sit out like they did in the past in the past You got to sit out a year. That's no longer the case right shone. So it's a situation where okay I'm getting you from another program. You're coming here. Is it the right fix? Is it the right mix? Are you going to disrupt what we're trying to build here? Are you capable of building a culture? We saw Danny Dan Hurley. We know he can build a culture. He's a two-time national champion Three national championship games in four years. We know what he brings to the table Now we're seeing coach may do the same thing and that's what we're monitoring particularly when you see some of these coaching openings That are going to take place. You're looking at these folks and you're saying, okay What is it coaching exes and o's is one thing coaching on a basketball coach coaching and practice is one thing But now you've got to be really an administrator. You got to be a gm You got to be a president of basketball operations per se. Are you capable of doing that? That's where all of this comes into play. So i'm looking forward obviously talking to dusty may but that's important Right system matters. You can't just go somewhere and expect to win a championship having these guys being in the right system I think proved especially with all these transfers. It really matters. Sean. I want to throw it back to you really quick We mentioned the size and I said it was overwhelming What did you think the difference was for michigan in the game last night? That was size It it was the size I mean because there it wasn't just at the offensive end of the floor I talked about the numbers of 61 of the 69 points were scored in the paint at the free throw line But it was the getting a fouls and putting those fouls on uconn and then at the defensive end their their ability to switch And then react and protect the rim like uconn dominated michigan actually in offensive rebounds Yet they didn't dominate necessarily in second chance points because michigan's defense was so connected And what we saw throughout the course this tournament was a team that could absolutely run you off the floor with their Transition game in the pace of play in which they have the offensive end and then in that game last night They're like, you know what uconn's an elite defensive team and uconn was great last night at the defensive end But so is the michigan role Marines and the reason why they were on the national championship Is because that lengthened their ability to disrupt on the back end of that defense and then the switch ability out on the perimeter To force into contested shots And take uconn out of so much of that great action that dan hurley runs Let's go to dan hurley and uconn really quick for the first time ever they lost in the national championship game We know they've won two chips in the last three years Bravo to uconn on that front, but how do you view uconn and dan hurley today? I'm proud of them Um, I think that you know dan hurley to me in losing Reminded me how great of a coach he is um michigan I saw terris reid jr Standing next to this cat mara and I was like I mean it wasn't quite me standing next to victor wimby yama Which is one of the most embarrassing photos that i've ever been associated with shone because I looked like many me I mean it was I had to I had to interview victor wimby yama The night he was drafted and I could barely fit the micro. I mean it was unbelievable It was like it was just that embarrassing. It was funny, but I looked at terris reid jr last night and I was like my god He looked like a big dude imposing dude against everybody else He's standing next to my ro. I'm like my god. Look how small he looks It was ridiculous and I was like how are they going to deal with this particularly with michigan? Whether it's cadilloh whether it's mckinney and those boys benetta and those boys. What are they gonna do? They're willing to god. What are you going to do against them? They're switching they're not necessarily manning up on every single possession They're making sure that it's a nine and make it difficult for you to get off three point shots We're gonna have to you're gonna have to find a way to score and he's got how are you going to do it? And Yukon was in this game They was in this game. They scratched they clawed they fought they're like we ain't arizona We ain't getting blown out of the building. We it ain't going down like that And they had their chances over the last four three to four minutes of the game shone They had a chance you make a shot here there. I mean it's right there for you It wasn't I mean I just looked at it and I just said I gotta give credit with credit Do I tweeted about it last that I was like I got a lot of respect for what I'm seeing from Yukon had it been Anybody else? I think that we'd be sitting here calling Yukon the national champions this morning Unfortunately, it was michigan. They were going up again. I mean go back Go back to the one play where they have a layup attempt that would have cut it to I believe four And then goes down to the other end and then trade mckinney hits the three point shot I mean that that that was the that was the game right there and there If you make that layup all of a sudden your defense gets set. They're not out in transition Uh, you're you're able to match up more appropriately Uh, and and that was the big moment in the game to to dan hurley. Here's here's what we're talking about when we're talking about Dan hurley, you know, we talk about is he the face of college basketball with all the legends that we've lost in recent years That have retired I truly believe that dan hurley is the face of college basketball now Sometimes that face looks really frustrated. We showed that to you a lot on television You know what they we don't show a whole lot is what he did last night at the end of the game He stood there with his team and waited for michigan to finish their celebration and to shake every single player's hands In fact, some of the players from uconn started to walk off the floor when they were waiting for a couple of minutes and dan said no No, no, no, we're staying right here. Uh, and it was something that I noticed He wanted to make sure he loves the game of basketball and he respects the game of basketball and sure his antics are crazy Uh, and sometimes it gets maybe a little bit over the top But we're talking about one of the most best tactical coaches in all of the country We're talking about one of the most successful coaches clearly in the last four years in the college basketball landscape And then you're talking about a guy that even in the moment where it's hitting him in the chest And it's his last time with alex caravan out on the floor He's like nope I'm gonna stand here My team is going to stand here and we are going to Congratulate the national champions in their moment And he stood there and did it and I think it's important that fans here and see that side of him As much as the other side of him when he's berating the officials or pumping his arms or falling to the floor on the sideline Well, let's let's let's throw the obvious out there It's also was important last night that he did that because of what gino did over the weekend So let's make sure we remind the audience of that other coaching. Hey, by the way, I'm sorry. I did not shake hands with you earlier Stephen. Hey, I meant I meant to shake hands with you earlier. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay The bottom line is what after what gino and we all know how phenomenal and great gino or reama is but for him To stain himself his reputation in the university of uconn the way that he did It was definitely that just added a level of importance to dan hurley doing what he did But the antics and all of that stuff who cares dan hurley is a phenomenal coach on the collegiate level and the attention He brings to college basketball is the right kind of attention He has the pulse of his players and his program He's built a culture there in stores, kinetic and one that has lived up to jim calhoun That kevin olly continued for a little while before dan hurley came and did what he did You can make a legitimate argument in my opinion. He's the best coach in the nation as far as i'm concerned because he's that great it's just that Coach may can coach his boy out off too And that team is just formidable when you got trees standing the year away with tree trunks You understand you got mariz johnson. I mean this brother is like him along with mar I'm just looking at them. It was almost depressing sometimes watching these guys How are they going to score but uconn said, okay, we're gonna muck it up. You're gonna deny us We're gonna fight you too. We're gonna scratch. We're gonna claw We're gonna neutralize you we're gonna make it difficult for you and they did make it difficult for michigan and when mckinney hit that Three that was the dagger no type big time shop on him But I thought there were two plays shown two and two two two plays that proceeded that where easily They could have been called for a foul and uconn would have been in a position to inch that much closer and and They didn't they didn't get the call They didn't get the call and it happens because it could have went either way But there was body contact and I thought the foul should have been called personally because you know me I want to come down to the why I wanted it to come down last second shot. That's what I wanted to see But it didn't come I didn't end up being that way Go ahead john Well and to further the point on coach jane hurley Listen to the way his players talk about him in the post game press conference last night Let's now they talk about growing not just his basketball players, but as a person in life And that's the leadership and that's what he brings to the table Uconn's not going anywhere if you think that that last night is the end of this story. It's not they're just gonna reinvent Another new chapter that's gonna start in the post alex caravan era. There's no doubt about it We also gotta be careful again. This is and this is the thing it came down. It was a relatively close game Okay, yes, and this is in spite of the fact that uconn Missed its first 11 shots from three in the second half First 11 shots from three in the second half couldn't buy one couldn't buy one and i'm thinking about you know what you're michigan You shoot two or 15 from three point range But you still managed to win this game even though uconn made nine threes gotta give credit where credit is due At a team one if you think about what danie hurley is accomplished Okay, so he wins back-to-back championships then he loses in the second round But to the eventual champion in florida last year which by the way was two points right it was a close game I think 75 73 and of florida who won the ship and then this year They lose to the eventual champion in michigan in the national championship game pretty remarkable stuff Elsewhere in college basketball north carolina has hired their next head basketball coach michael malone will take over as head coach in chapahill about a month after the university fired hubert davis after five seasons Following their loss to vcu in the tournament after leading by remember 19 points malone spent 12 seasons as an mba head coach And notably won the 2023 mba championship with the dember nuggets malone is not coached at the division one level since 2001 when he was an assistant coach at menhattan. This is his first position as a collegiate head coach Relatively speaking this kind of came out of nowhere. It feels like now his daughter does play volleyball at u and c So there is a tie there. How surprising was this hire having michael malone? I was surprised because it was outside the family. It's north carolina You know, I was mentioning kenny smith and and I don't have any regrets about that because I know how Connected kenny smith is to youth basketball throughout the country And I believe that when you're going up against john sharia and dupe you got to be able to recruit make no mistake about it Yes, they got to make sure they throw the same amount of n il money Out there that dupe throws out there, but nevertheless I just believe you have to be able to recruit against this man dupe north carolina That is to me the best rivalry is in sports. I love dupe north carolina I'm really disappointed only the matt darty area disappointed me. It was very lopsided outside of that whether it was shefsky and d smith whether shefsky and bill guthridge Whether it was shefsky and roi williams now is shri and hubert davis did take him to the national national championship game and they beat duke in their final four You know his first year on the job I was just I dupe north carolina is what it's about to me shone, but let me say this about mike malone Mike malone can coach Mike malone knows basketball. Um, he did a hell of a job in denver. I have no questions about mike malone Exes and os I have no question about his ability to motivate young players because Whereas in the nba people could sit up there and say Eventually your voice gets old consider the fact that he was in denver for 10 freaking years Okay, it wasn't like two years and he was going he was in denver for 10 years. He won a championship They were perennial contenders. They did their job. Okay, he did his job If your voice gets older with a bunch of multi millionaires is getting paid 40 50 million dollars That's not the same as dealing with kids who's trying to make it to the nba to get that kind of bag Which means that even in the age of n il and transfer portal stuff shone You are still empowered as the head man of a college basketball program and i'm saying that puts mike malone in a very good position because him being in control Now it's about his ability to motivate players which he can do it's about his ability to coach which he can do My only question is can you recruit? That's my only question about it If he can recruit UNC has something special on their hands because that man knows basketball and he can coach basketball and i'm happy for him So shon, I don't know if you heard him. I heard me. Were you surprised at all by this hire in mike malone going to north carolina? Oh, okay, so farney can here. So we're gonna further discuss this Um, I know we talked about how north carolina likes to hire from within the family And so this is why it feels like it kind of came from left field But being that his daughter does play volleyball there and he's been around the program and he's been around chapel hill Doesn't this feel like kind of in the family? No, no, no, no, no, no, no You it ain't in a family because your daughter's a student playing volley. You're invested in the university. That's not yeah I understand that but that's not the same That's not the same as somebody or hubert davis played for the university of north carolina Roy Williams was an assistant there somebody that they clamored for for years Originally had turned down the job before they went back to kansas and got them to get come from kansas Okay, you know guzzridge was somebody that had been on dean smith's bench for a long time before succeeding dean smith So we have to remember all of those things. Okay, you go outside the family And here's the uniqueness about north carolina and this is what we have to be raise our proverbial eyebrow about They now have two champions on the pro level coaching their program I'll let's check you got bill bella checking football. You got mike malone in basketball Let's hope that mike malone's gonna have better results than bill bella check had in north carolina in his first year But we realized bill bella check. So we obviously we're gonna have hope that it'll get better But in the end when you look at mike malone They went outside the program. They should have given jerry stackhouse a look one would argue He coached the vanda build been the sister goes the sister coach would go to state wars right now I say kenny smith you could bring up other names But if you're gonna go outside the program, you can't look at mike malone and think it's a problem It's not a problem speaking of tacticians. We talked about danie hurley. This is a very tactical coach We heard from pete they all know that was a big reason why they went after him. What do you think of the higher farney? I think it's a great hire and I think that obviously they did they do diligence they they they talked to tommy loyb They talked to dusty may trying to get in there and see what they could do But then they had to make a move and they had to make it pretty quickly with the transfer portal opening up as of midnight last night And they got a guy that I was fortunate enough to spend some time with just on the elite eight weekend watching some of these ncda tournament games out in los angeles when mba countdown was done for about 35 minutes His acumen of not only what's going on at the mba level, but also understanding the new college landscape I think is elite and I think people are going to find that out really quickly and you talk about Finding players is there a place in the world that mike malone can't go to? And immediately open up a door to recruit a player to north carolina there isn't and because of that He's going to be able to go internationally. He's going to be able to With that brand power behind him in the acc I think you're going to see it flip very quickly for north carolina and that they're going to be very relevant Especially at the offensive end with his tactic tactical abilities at that end of the floor We see in college basketball now We talk about dusty may off the top and how quickly he turned things at michigan You can look at ryan odum this year. You can look at coach lucas at miami You can look at you know john shire sustained success You can look at pat kelsey at louisville the acc is kind of having like a little bit of a rebirth right now With coaches that are able to come in and ignite their fan base And I get it if you're a north carolina fan and you have some hesitancy about it because of bill bellichick Let me remind you this man's 54 years old. He is not bill bellichick He's got the fire. He's got the passion and the energy To to help this program out and get them on the right path very quickly. Listen, um, he were he and I worked together last year I'm doing mba account and we work the playoffs together and I've known him for years but um He's a hell of a coach and he's a hell of a basketball mind And these players when you talk about coming to north carolina and you have aspirations to get to the next level He's qualified to judge your capabilities and to prepare you for what's coming down the pike as well So again, I think it's an exceptional hire by north carolina My only concern is that you're recruiting because we need to understand and shaw knows that i'm right about this when I say this hubet davis One could easily argue in eight north carolina who fired them It's duke who fired them because john try has been so successful in his four years at duke Yes, he has not won a national championship But the man has answered the call with 30 plus wins over the last two years 27 wins in each of his first two seasons the man is winning basketball games and recruiting all americans to come to his program Now hubet got kayla wilson last year got two all americans coming in this year But the bottom line is you've got to be able to compete with duke It can't be duke is the number one team in the nation and you number 17 It can't be duke winning 85 percent of these games and you winning 67 68 percent of your games That's a nice number under normal circumstances. This is the acc. This is duke north carolina Understanding not nc state not vigenya not climp center north duke north carolina That's the measuring stick and when duke is here, which they almost always are you can't be here And you're going to be looked upon in a positive light So mike malone if i gave him one piece of advice, it's this look eight miles up the road You know towards caron indoor stadium and that duke campus and make sure that you are nip and tuck with them Going back and forth with them competing on every other i don't give a damn if you compete for the same meals at a restaurant You compete for breakfast. I don't care what it is Understand they cannot Have a consistent edge over you because if it is they're gonna find another coach Well, it'll be an uphill climb for mike malone because right now the odds on favorite to win the natty next year is duke Sean farneham, we appreciate the time. Enjoy any anapolis the rest of your time there and we'll catch you later, buddy Uh, you know who might not like that note. I just gave out dusty may considering he's coming off michigan's first championship since 1989 he is going to join us on the program next you don't want to miss it plus lamar jackson Means business arriving yesterday to voluntary workouts. Don't miss with steven a and peter schrager say What is at stake for him this upcoming season? That's next on first take Hey sports fans the espn app has all of espn all in one place the espn app is your home to thousands of live events espn shows And originals across every espn network and service And now you can check if you already have espn unlimited as part of your tv package for no additional cost Visit activate dot espn dot com to learn how to access your account or sign up then start streaming in the espn app It's all the espn all in one place sign up or activate now Mine one one where's the emergency? It's the middle of the night in a small town on the jersey shore Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge a search gets underway for the missing driver 19 year old sarah stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point nobody knows Old friendships buried cash and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie Plays out in real life I'm juju chang from 2020 and abc audio Listen now to bridge of lies wherever you get your podcasts Since 1989 There's been a blank space in the michigan trophy case will write their name michigan the 2026 men's basketball national champions they knock off uconn 69 to 63 to win the school's second men's basketball championship Hail to the victors michigan finished off a dominant season with their second national championship and program history defeating the Uconn huskies 69 63 last night the title caps a remarkable two-year turn around under head coach dusty may Who became just the fifth coach in the last 40 years to win a national title in their first two seasons with a school Lucky us we now get to welcome in the head coach of the champions the michigan wolverines dusty may good morning to you Uh, as you pointed out to us off camera. He's on a like one hour of sleep. So here we go Um, you know, it was funny coach last night. I felt like after the game your interview You seemed like oh just a regular game and then I heard you tell ernie It was almost like you felt like you had to prepare for another game like that's why you weren't emotional now You've had some time Got one hour of sleep this morning as you reflect black on what happened last night and throughout this tournament What's coming to your mind? Well, fortunately, I have a great staff that holds me accountable We've had zooms and calls with recruits this morning as the transfer portal opened at 1201 last night. So Hopefully we could get another great roster together in the next few weeks and we can enjoy it and reflect a little bit later on Coach congratulations. Just so we know before I even ask a question I'm on the national I've been on national air was over the last week Apologizing to your squad because I under sio y'all an apology. I didn't see it. I was like I watched y'all against duke earlier this year I wasn't sold on the back court I thought that something would go awry in the nc double a tournament because i'm really big on guard play But kadoa and these brothers I mean, I can't say enough about what I saw from them if you had to pinpoint one specific thing coach That delivered the national championship for you above all else. What would it be? The different guys stepped up every single night It wasn't as if you saw us to do game and we were in position to win credit to them for for getting it done But in that game l.a. Kadoa didn't have his best Performance and stent said he's been he's been amazing But literally every game I think we had eight or nine different leading scores this year in different games So it'd be it'd be tough to scout us because they're so well balanced and and credit to our guys when someone got it going Everyone else just fed them and and they weren't concerned with stats or anything else Just tried to to figure out a way to win that game coach mate Was that by design or was that by accident where all of a sudden you're watching your team and the season unfold And this is just how it ended up being or was it the intent all along to have different dudes stepping up each night? And making it difficult for the opposition to really really pinpoint who you had to focus on No, it was it was by it was by design steven We always feel like just having a team where everyone's A major contributor everyone's connected and we've actually had to pass on certain recruits because they they weren't They wanted more of a usage rate than they were probably going to have with us And and we weren't going to lie to them an over promise And so we just feel like in the sport of basketball with five guys on the court the more Everyone's involved is if everyone's connected and has a major role in every possession Then they're going to be they're going to play better and be more fulfilled and we're going to be tougher to guard Speaking of that coach you did have five transfers start and I think there's this notion in college basketball Hey, the most nil money is going to win the day But in the way you grab these transfers or when you do go to the portal What were you looking for when you built this team? How did you assemble this roster to be the championship caliber that it was? First and foremost personality traits. There's obviously a baseline of talent or we wouldn't be recruiting these guys but personality traits Um, their past experiences who they were before we got them and do we think we can? Um, put them together in a functional way Um, our finances obviously at the University of Michigan when we took the job We were one of the worst Uh, nil programs in the country and we've grown it to where we were probably top third in our league last year And hopefully uh, we'll be number one or number two going forward as we continue to To gain more traction with businesses and and things like that and we're not going to apologize trying to To generate revenue to pay these players who deserve it and who have done a lot for our university Allow me to give you a piece of advice just for a second not that you need it as a national champion But never apologize for trying to generate revenue. That is always a good thing coach Don't let anybody tell you otherwise having said all of that. I got to say this to you coach um, yaks on london londonborg, I gotta tell you I like him Um, but not nearly as much as I like him now. I mean, I like them throughout the season He could play but to be to get injured to mess up his ankle and his knee to be out on that basketball court And I brought this up in the first segment where you're getting interviewed at halftime. You're like, I'm terrible I feel terrible. I'm playing terrible, but I got to give it all I got. We got a national championship I mean so much guts. I mean he wanted it so badly. He can shoot. He can handle. He's got a body You know that's made for the pro level this brother stock as far as i'm concerned elevated exponentially as well And it should have in the minds eye speak to him and what he's meant to this program this year Well, he's just scratching the surface at any time you have a potential national player of the year that could care less If he shot one one time or ten times He does stats individual accolades. None of that matters to him. He just wants to be one of the guys And that's a real recipe for for success when you have someone that's that talented. He's that unselfish And uh, just just wants to contribute to the team. It's it's uh, it's almost like he's a throwback and his journey is so unique He's just been playing basketball for six years He's going to play in the NBA not because of his Athleticism is going to jump off the charts but because of his basketball IQ his skill set for his size and also just his Want to I mean he wants to guard point guards 94 feet. He wants to guard post players Whatever the team needs that's what he wants to do and and those are some pretty rare traits in the in this this era Coach michigan basketball so closely associated with the fab five. They were obviously attend attendance there at the final four What influence if any did they have on your current squad and this national champion squad? Well, they had an enormous influence on the current squad But more importantly on all of their parents and aunts uncles and grandparents I I say it repeatedly other than michael jordan the fab five had more of a culture impact on our sport Than than anyone in recent memory. Uh, for example, I played a u basketball in bloomington, indiana Under the program called bloomington red for obvious reasons and because of the fab five We modeled our uniforms after the fab five and we changed it to bloomington blue for one year Because those guys had such an impact on us Coach, uh, listen the fab five I was so happy to see all of them there the whole crew and I think they meant so much to the game It was just beautiful seeing them there being them on tv together the whole bit. It was really really special to see Having said that You guys are the national champions now and you've delivered the first national championship to michigan since 1989 I guess the question would be coach when you look towards the future with n il with the transfer portal Would we just talk about a bit early on what have you? How do you view michigan in terms of what you're going to do moving forward because now that you've won the national championship Gotta live up to you know, everybody is good. Enjoy this enjoy this morning coach But now tomorrow it's about What you're gonna do about next year what you're gonna do about the year after the level of consistency That's what everybody's going to be looking for How excited are you about the possibility that michigan is going to be able to pull that off to be as consistent As people want you to be when it comes to the success for your program Well when you're at a place like the university of michigan, we should be at the forefront of whatever direction college athletics move in um Just because of the the resources our alumni base our academic pedigree uh, but we've definitely set a new standard for for our program and Fortunately our staff and players they're they're ready to attack it now. There's no Uh, take it this takes some time off and regroup. It's what do we need to do? How do we prepare to make a run out of next year as the final four is in our home state of detroit? And and as you talk about the the fab five and and how much they mean to that city and how how involved they they are still It'd be a heck of an honor to go back and and do it and try to do it back to back In uh in that city I don't even want to think about what detroit's going to be like next year if michigan is playing for the national championship Right in this city. Lord have mercy. I oh my goodness Oh my goodness does he may I love that you have that circle I don't know that everyone knows that the final four is in detroit next year. He's like, oh, I know We're ready now. They know now. I'm sure maybe we used that on the calls this morning for the portal All right, coach may congratulations Congratulations coach. Thank you for joining us this morning and enjoy the rest of this off season and today. We'll see you later Coming up on first take we've got Lamar Jackson at camp with a new head coach in baltimore now How high are we on a bounce back year for the mvp quarterback plus new details inside the deteriorating relationship Between the bucks and yana sin tsukumo How hard should teams be pursuing the buck star as a missing championship piece? That's next Welcome back to first take time for a quick take in the game of the night in the nba Was it though the nuggets came back from down 18 to defeat the trail blazers in overtime behind a triple double from none other than Nicola yokic Denver is on a season high nine game win streak and now sit at third in the west Second straight day. We got to ask the question. How dangerous is Denver? Shea, I'm kind of disappointed in you because I thought you had love for me because Or repeatedly I am ahead of the curve. I was on the air Three weeks ago. If you recall, I was saying you sleep on dempfer if you want to okay, we know what yokic can do But when jamal murray is flowing It's a different beast and here's the thing both murray And yokic have shown They don't fade when the playoffs arrive. They elevate They don't dissipate. So i'm looking at it and i'm like peoples Be careful and yokic the other day pick a first of all jamal murray had a 50 point game a 40 point game all of this Unacceptable yokic with another triple double. I will remind everybody that yokic the other night went up against victor wimby yama and drop 40 40 and 13 That's who they are I'm not telling you they're gonna win the championship. I'm telling you with jamal murray and yokic flowing on all cylinders And let me not leave out erin gordon who is out most of the season and is now back Denver can beat anybody Anybody damn right there dangerous erin gordon 23 points. He's the second leading scorer for the nuggets yesterday Yeah, when you can go up against victor wimmy yama toe for toe that is saying something Let's go to the nfl now where lamar jackson has a new head coach. They are in the jesse mentor jesse mentor era Lamar showed up to voluntary workouts yesterday a change for the quarterback who last spring didn't attend eight of the nine onfield practices Before mandatory mini camp. Look who's here peter schrager. Haven't seen you in a long time. Hello Higher or lower on lamar jackson this upcoming season higher higher I think the expectations were sky high going into last season and then we had to level them off and plateau them during the season but this team has now been built around lamar jackson and his Appearance yesterday is not going to make a difference come january or february. We know that symbolically It was such an important thing for lamar to just say I've got this new coach's back I've got this new offensive coordinators back and I am not only the face of this organization But I am here 10 toes on the ground in the building I love the fact that minter and him already have a great relationship I spoke with jesse minter at the league meetings last week in arizona and asked him Is lamar gonna show and he looked at me and laura ruttledge and he was like We expect him to be there and lamar He was there I love the fact that the 29 year old offensive coordinator with a fresh start and a fresh set of eyes in declin doil And I love the fact that it's no longer the same voice And the same message that we've been hearing in baltimore for 18 years with the split from harbore I'm higher on them now than I was last year. I really think that this is a fresh start and it's good for lamar I agree with you But I don't think you told everybody the real reason why So i'm going to push back on you. Okay Lamar jackson we can act like we don't know but he has something to do Without john harbore being gone. You know that better than most you've been all over the story You understand what i'm saying? You know, I keep my receipts. So I got you on camera saying that so just hold on to that Okay, that's number one number two Understand that lamar jackson restructured his deal created like 39.96 million in cap space For baltimore for the upcoming season. Okay, but after next season That cap hit would be like 84 million ounce in four million ounce Okay, so understand what that means if he does have a sub par year baltimore's got some decisions to make You see because of course, you know, you got to find out you got to decide what you want Now we can't imagine lamar jackson ever walking away from baltimore. You ever letting them walk away from baltimore I mean, that's crazy But in the same breath, this is the hard-cap life of the national football league You lost likely you look london bomb to shut your center to to to to the rate is your loss I say likely is your well one of your type one of your tight ends So you've got those two guys that are gone. All right, particularly were likely that's your bereft of a Of a weapon to rely upon as a result that puts even more pressure on you to a lesser degree derrick henry as well I'm just looking at it from the standpoint. You got a new coach That's asking you to buy all in you're coming off your worst season. Obviously due to injury Okay, but you've got get healthy and you got to show up and show out because now what happened here We got a situation where Derrick, you know, derrick maize in new england. They go into super bowls. Josh allen and buffalo. You got a new coach They've made some changes. They're coming. Okay. Denver's not going away to the number one team They were the number one seed in the afc They're not going away and patrick for homes is highly motivated because they even have a 500 record and they miss the players Ain't going out like that. There's a whole bunch of obstacles and impediments standing in the way of la mar jackson Yes, the baltimore ravens collectively but him specifically because we all know that when he's flowing the baltimore ravens are Are forced to be reckoned with and when he's not They're an average team It's on his shoulders in a lot of ways financially He handled it for this upcoming season But everything else is on his shoulders as well the future direction of this franchise is going to be contingent On how la mar jackson looks in terms of not just how he performs But how much he shows peter that he has left. That's really well said they have the 14th overall pick I think it's one of the more fascinating picks in this draft They can go offensive line and try to help out the loss of linderbaum Who they were never going to pay the money that the raiders paid and they had to say farewell Or they can go for another offensive weapon I would look at oregon titan kenyan sadeek as a very interesting piece to offset the loss of likely and to use Him in almost a way that travis kelsey has been used in canc city To me 14th pick yet. You thought you had cross beat. You don't have cross beat instead You get back this 14th overall pick and you have trey hendrickson. That might be a wash. Let me tell you why I disagree with that I think you have to go offensive line. You lost linderbaum to the raiders. Okay huge you have to protect la mar But you also got a run block for king henry No doubt so you got dual you got dual issues right there. You got two very important issues Your two primary issues If you are the ball tomorrow ravers is a to protect your quarterback and b to be able to run the ball So everything is independent on the mar jackson who's coming off an injury and showing that guess what he's no longer invincible He can get injured too. Now. I got to go offensive line if i'm ball tomorrow for that Who's he throwing the ball to Zay flowers Okay, sure mark andrews is one of the better After the most quarterbacks would take those three weapons sure take those three weapons, but when you're with him We run in a ball Sure, but you've got a division where they are going to score a lot of points and i'm sorry I just feel like it's zay flowers king henry and everyone else I think I think one of the most unique things is the message and how that for 18 years It has been the same face and voice to these people It is now a new coach a new defensive coordinator a new offensive coordinator And now it's basically lemar you are the man. It is not horrible. It is lemar's team Fascinating to see how he comes out of the case We will see what happens with mar jackson and the baltimore ravens going forward again new head coach there and jesse minter New era. Hopefully it's up and up coming up here on first take the spurs not their 60th win last night But lost wendy to injury unfortunately How big of a deal could this be for san antonio going forward plus michigan Had a dominant run to their first title in 37 years should we view this team as the greatest michigan squad Ever even over the fab five think about that jay will will join us next