Michigan finally gets to live its 'April Habits' on Final Four stage

INDIANAPOLIS – For two years, Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May has talked about “April Habits.” Now his program finally gets to live them.

Michigan bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in a Sweet Sixteen loss to Auburn in Atlanta last March. This year, the Wolverines have gotten exactly what they wanted en route to the Final Four in Indianapolis, two wins away from a national championship.

May revealed the origins of the “April Habits” mantra last weekend in Chicago after an anecdote about his last Final Four trip at Florida Atlantic in 2024.

“ Most of our career, my career, whatever you want to call it, we’ve talked about ‘March Habits’, May said after the Elite Eight win over Tennessee. “You want to be your best when the season ends. To show you how big a dream it was at FAU, we didn’t realize you could play into April.

“So we finished playing in [Madison Square Garden] after we beat Kansas State. We came home and said, ‘Guys, I sold you short. I underpromised. If we developed the right habits, we could play into April. From that moment, we changed it to ‘April Habits.’”

May and his Michigan staff, which is largely composed of people who were with him in Boca Raton when they made their run a few years ago, are now using some of the lessons learned the last time around to help plan for the final weekend of the season.

“The Monday last [time], I spent the entire day talking to other coaches that had played in the Final Four about what to do and what not to do and how to prepare,” May said during a Thursday press conference. “So the first day is simply learning because we obviously didn’t anticipate going to the Final Four. You’re learning that, and this year it was more of our staff getting together and going through our notes and checklist about what we didn’t do well and what we did and try to recreate what we did well and try to figure out a better way for what we didn’t.

“I think we’re a step ahead there. As far as it feeling different, I’d challenge you to walk into our office or arena at FAU. Everything about what that group did and even just to look at a picture of that group and their journeys to get there, and this one, it’s two different situations. This is just… we felt like we expected to be here.

“[At FAU] we were on the innocent fight for about three or four months where we were just lost in the fight, battling every single day, scrapping for everything and not knowing if you’re even going to be in the tournament, let alone make it to the Final Four. I think here we probably clinched an NCAA Tournament bid after the Players Era in November, so just the entire thing has felt different.”

Michigan players on what the ‘April Habits’ mantra means to them

Senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr., who has earned the nickname “March Roddy” for his strong play in the postseason over the last two years, said this year’s process began as soon as Michigan lost to Auburn in the Sweet Sixteen.

“Ever since then, we always knew what it was going to take,” Gayle said Thursday. “We knew it was gonna take physicality, focus, things like that. We knew it was going to be really important for us to start those habits really early and eventually lead us to this moment.”

You will not find a spelled-out list of the habits preached at Michigan’s facility, but there’s an understanding of how the Wolverines are expected to handle their business.

 ”April habits aren’t listed out,” graduate forward Will Tschetter said. “It’s just like how you carry yourself every day in practice. We have all of our pillars, like being consistent and being selfless, just to name a few. I think it’s just embodying those every day and how you attack film, practice, weights and nutrition.”

Despite not having a defined criterion or list of what those “April Habits” need to be, Gayle says it has come down to endurance and focus for the Wolverines. Having the chance to put those into use with a title on the line is what it’s all about for this group.

“It means a lot,” Gayle said. “Especially coming from the summer and seeing how long this took us to be able to jell. It took a little while at first, but it’s amazing, like looking back at the season and seeing how well we were able to time communicate and build chemistry.”

Michigan didn’t spend two years talking about April to simply arrive. Now, with everything it has built pointing to this moment, the Wolverines finally get to find out if those habits are enough to finish it.

Michigan and Arizona tip off on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. ET on TBS from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The winner will play either Illinois or UConn on Monday night for the national championship.