It took me a minute to figure out the Dusty to Dallas Mavs situation and how it all came together. I now believe I have pieced together the story like a famous bad TV detective.
So I present the evidence to Big House Blog Jury for your judgement:
Evidence #1:
Dusty wins the National Championship flies home with the team the next day and ends up having to go right into the office due to the transfer portal opening.
Evidence #2:
Since winning a Ring, Dusty has been working and non-stop recruiting. No vacation or time off. There are reports he was even recruiting the Monday morning he took the Dallas job.
Evidence #3:
NIL Juke out: The top player in the portal Juke Harris committed to Dusty 2 or 3 times verbally. Only for Juke and his agent to take a higher offer from Tennessee. If you remember Yax came to Michigan when he had much bigger offers from the likes of UK, many suggest as high as double the Michigan offer. NIL and situations like the one above, made his job less about coaching and more about being a GM.
Evidence #4:
Michigan had an offer on Dusty's desk for weeks to make him the highest paid college basketball coach. He didn't sign and was sending signals to the NBA. In fact, if Steve Kerr didn't come back he was probably headed for Golden State. (per Brian Windhorst ESPN)
Evidence #5:
Dallas made him an offer that was hard to turn down: Big salary, being able to coach Cooper Flagg, and draft one of his former players. If he fails or doesn't like the NBA, he of course has a soft landing back in college ball. That is one time special offer.
Evidence #6:
This is pure speculation, he could give his friend at St. Louis Josh Schertz a promotion to be Michigan Head Basketball Coach. (If Warde is thinking clearly)
The defensive Michigan Fans rest your honor.
So this wasn't Warde's fault but it still happened under his watch. He should've known when Dusty didn't sign his contract right away, something was up and should've paid off his beach house like Alabama did when Saban was flirting with Texas.
- You know how I feel about Michigan taking commitments from guys heading a 2-year mission. I believe they are useless and rarely workout. Here is a similar example that worked out in Michigan's favor. Weston Port was a 3 Star LB recruit out of California in the 2025 class and committed to UCLA. Both Michigan and UCLA are different programs now and Weston is ready to enroll in January when his mission trip to Spain completes. He picked Michigan on Monday over many new offers. This reminds me of the Andrew Gentry situation and how he ended up in A2. Welcome Weston and this should close out the LB class for the 2027 class for the Wolverines.
- The buzz on 2 Michigan Freshmen that are expected to see the field early and often are of course: Savion Hiter and DT Titan Davis.
- Another bad sign for the Big Ten and college football. Wisconsin will wear a Culvers jersey patch this year.
