Michigan is preparing to face Tennessee in the Elite Eight on Sunday but the transfer portal is like time itself: it waits for no man.
In a press conference ahead of Sunday's game where the winner advances to the Final Four, Michigan head coach Dusty May described getting a call from a current Wolverine's agent informing the coach he was actively shopping the player in the portal. May's lack of reaction was stunning.
"If this isn't the best place, there's no hard feelings. You work for him. You have to do the best for him," May said. "We want him to stay. If he doesn't feel like he'll have an opportunity to play and develop, whatever the case, there's no hard feelings.
"He was almost shocked that we weren't angry at him because he said he'd spoken to several other schools. "As long as they're all on one-year contracts and as long as there's as much fluidity as there is in college basketball, until we figure out a system, it's not going to change. I don't take it personally when our guys say they have offers from other schools. I just don't."
May responded so zen-like because he was able to separate what's best for the player with what's best for him or his idealized version of what the system should be.
"I don't like it because, obviously, it's more work for me and it's change and it's hard, but I'm not mad at them for it," he said.
May entered his own version of the transfer portal by leaving Florida Atlantic for Michigan in the spring of 2024 despite signing a whopping 10-year extension at FAU one year prior. The Wolverines' best player -- arguably the best player in the entire tournament -- played at UAB last season. In fact, the Wolverines' top four minutes leaders all arrived via the portal this past offseason. And so it goes.
"Everyone has representation now. So when a season ends today and (a head coach) takes a job tomorrow, he has an agent that's been working those back channels, and I'd say 90 percent of the good players have the same thing going on right now," May said.
Of course, it's easier for May to say than most given that he's at one of the richest schools in the country. But separating the personal from the process would be a healthy stance for all coaches to take.