Dusty May was the bell of the ball. And now he’s a Wolverine.

Sunday morning, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel announced that Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May had been hired to take over the Wolverines’ basketball program. After 6 seasons at Florida Atlantic, May got the big job. And it’s a big job.

Michigan stumbled through an 8-24 season this winter. The Wolverines lost 17 of their 20 conference games and crashed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the first round with barely a whimper. The Wolverines ended the season with 9 straight losses and finished last in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1966-67 season.

For it, coach Juwan Howard was fired on March 15 after 5 seasons on the job.

May’s Owls went 25-9 this season but lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to 9-seed Northwestern. Last year, Florida Atlantic won a program-record 35 games and advanced to the school’s first-ever Final Four.

In 6 seasons as the head coach at FAU, May put together a 126-68 record overall with two Conference-USA titles. May certainly could have made the jump to a new school last offseason, but elected to remain with the Owls and build. Each of the Owls’ top 4 scorers returned and in their first season in the American this year, FAU finished second in the conference.

“This is a dream come true for me,” May said in a release. “This was an incredibly difficult decision, however, I am deeply committed to reigniting the proud tradition of Michigan Basketball. I can’t wait to get started.”

The question around Ann Arbor is how long he’ll have to get things up and running.

May signed a 5-year deal that will pay him an average of $3.75 million annually at Michigan. He made $1.25 million at FAU and had a $1 million buyout. It’s not immediately clear what his buyout is at Michigan (though that could be important given his Indiana ties).

The deal is a win for the Wolverines. It’s a relatively low commitment. If May proves he’s the guy, they can extend him and boost his pay. If things don’t work, they aren’t trapped in a bad deal.

Michigan won the Big Ten title 4 years ago and went to the Elite Eight. It played Villanova for a national championship during the 2017-18 season. With 8 Final Four appearances and a national championship in the trophy case, Michigan has every reason to believe it can be a consistent force on the hardwood.

So what should be expected from the new head coach?

May’s brand of basketball is an engaging one to watch. The offense — which he learned during his time working for Bob Knight and calls “structured chaos” — leads the scouting report, which is good news for a Michigan team that just posted its worst offensive rating since the 2014-15 season.

One thing fans will notice immediately is how quickly May’s teams get into their action on offense. They hover around 67-68 possessions a game, which isn’t a blistering pace, but there’s no wasted time on offense.

Often, the ball is across halfcourt and players are in motion before the shot clock hits 25. The kick ahead to ignite the break — off a turnover or a rebound — is always there. And it gives everyone the opportunity to drive, kick, and work for the right shot.

It’s a motion offense that spreads 4 players out around the wing and features a skilled big man in the middle third of the floor. The outside players all have to be able to drive and make players, and May’s teams always seem to have a strong grasp of spacing and flow — true in both transition and halfcourt situations.

FAU passes, cuts, screens, and moves. The ball-handler gets into the paint and makes a quick decision. Finish, kick the ball, or dump it to the big.

The Owls loved to slip the big on ball screens. If the defense traps the ball-handler, the ball gets lobbed over the top to the big for an easy 2. Vladislav Goldin, a 7-foot-1 forward from Russia, averaged 15.7 points this year and 10.2 points last year.

Giancarlo Rosado, a 6-foot-8 big off the bench, would come in and flip tendencies a bit. May used him on the elbows to catch and serve more of a playmaking role. He was capable of catching, turning, and attacking the basket or facing up and delivering a pass on a baseline cut. Rosado averaged 5.2 points and 4.2 assists per 40 minutes this season.

There’s also a ton of off-ball motion and screening used to break up the defense. Sometimes it’s window dressing away from the primary action. But it’s almost always done to keep the floor balanced and their spacing intact.

“The principles on offense of playing your man and on defense playing the ball, that’s essentially our philosophy as well,” May told the AP after last year’s NCAA Tournament. “We incorporate how to read screens, how to read defenders, a lot of the same principles.”

Related: May is out of the NCAA Tournament, but there’s plenty of basketball left to be played. Want to bet on March Madness? Check out Saturday Tradition’s top Ohio sportsbooks to get in on the action.

Last season, FAU posted an offensive rating of 112.8 — the 15th-best mark in the country. This season, they had a 116.2 offensive rating that ranked 19th nationally. It was a climb, as the FAU May inherited ranked 316th out of 351 teams the year prior to his arrival (97.7).

In 2018-19 (May’s first year), FAU had a 99.0 offensive rating that ranked 290th. It improved to 100.1 in Year 2 and then jumped to 109.9 in Year 3.

As his teams got a better feel for how they were supposed to play, the shooting percentage shot up and up. FAU was a good 3-point shooting team the year it made the Final Four, but May’s groups have been excellent 2-point shooting teams for 3 years straight. They were atrocious shooting the ball the year prior to May’s arrival.

Does he get a runway?

In his first 4 seasons at FAU, May had a 66-56 record. In the last 2 years, his teams have gone 60-13. His teams have also never been great on the defensive end of the floor, with the best coming in 2022-23 when their defense ranked 34th in adjusted defensive efficiency (KenPom).

May will have significantly more resources at Michigan. He’ll presumably have access to top talent. A multi-tooled big was important to his success at Florida Atlantic, and his guards will need to learn how to play fast while playing smart. How quickly can he retrofit the roster to look the way he wants it to look?

Michigan fans should have a healthy deal of skepticism given how small the sample size is, but there’s plenty to be excited about with this hire.