Michigan basketball podcast: Zack Novak joins Chris Balas to talk Dusty May, more

Former Michigan wing/forward Zack Novak, like Dusty May from the talent rich state of Indiana, never expected to play much at U-M, he admitted today. At 6-2.5 (his admission), he was “sneaky” athletic and played much bigger than he is, but he was a two-star recruit who probably would have played baseball at Indiana if U-M hadn’t swooped in late.

Former Michigan coach John Beilein brought him in, and never regretted it. Novak helped turn the program around, a big part of the culture shift that led to the program’s first Big Ten title in 25-plus years, and follows the program closely. He was on a conference call when new coach May issued a call to arms for the alums, asking them to rally around the program.

When the Wolverines captured the school’s first national title since 1989, May gave them all a nod while on the court for his postgame TV interview.

“I want to shout-out all the former Michigan players, this was for them,” May said to conclude his on-court TV interview immediately after the victory.

Before the Final Four, May insisted it was “everyone” who had gotten them there.

“Each year is completely different, and it’s a community,” May said. “It’s our staff … it’s the returning players. It’s everyone around our guys. It’s their families. We try to make sure everyone feels important and valued in our program, and then we just stress the importance of doing it together, and you can get there — you can chase your dream doing it this way. It’s proven.

“Now, we have proof of concept with we have guys getting drafted. We won a Big Ten Tournament championship last year, we finished second in the regular season and made the Sweet 16. We just feel like if you come here, you can achieve your individual goals while doing it this way, and you probably have a better chance of doing it this way.”

Now, they’ve got a natty, too thanks to May and his staff, and Novak and his former teammates were in the stands watching. Novak, extremely successful in the business world since he ended his short playing career overseas, talks about the state of the program, gives his Beilein stories and much more in today’s podcast.