Michigan overwhelms Tennessee to reach 1st Final Four since 2018 - ESPN

CHICAGO — Michigan coach Dusty May leaned back on the basket support, beaming proudly as his players, one by one, climbed a ladder and snipped pieces of the net.

In just his second season with the Wolverines, May guided Michigan back to the Final Four, as his team thumped Tennessee 95-62 on Sunday to win the Midwest Region. May had engineered a more surprising Final Four run in 2023 with Florida Atlantic, but he also inherited a seemingly broken Michigan program, which emerged from a season with only eight total wins and three in the Big Ten, its fewest since 1966-67.

Now the Wolverines are headed to face Arizona on April 4 in a national semifinal in Indianapolis, after adding to the team's single-season record wins total, which stands at 35 after Sunday.

«They're playing a child's game, I'm coaching a child's game,» May said, «so when you look in one spot, there are all these people who poured into them — their old coaches… parents, they made countless sacrifices for them to have this opportunity. It's just rewarding to see these moments when everyone's together. It's not that I've been here before. It's man, it's really cool to see all these people that helped us get to where we are.»

He smiled and paused.

«I highly recommend next year's team doing it, also.»

The Wolverines will return to the Final Four the first time since 2018 and for the fourth time in the past 11 seasons. Michigan is seeking its first national championship since 1989.

«We have a sign in our locker that [reads] 'April Habits,' and from day one, we challenged these guys to develop championship-level habits that would allow us to win a Big Ten championship, and would also allow us to turn the calendar from March until April,» May said. «Now we've put