ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Dusty May developed a reputation as something of an offensive guru in recent years while building Florida Atlantic into a mid-major power in college basketball.
And if his first month on the job at Michigan is any indication, that reputation still carries some weight. Because May and his new coaching staff went 8 for 8 in landing recruiting targets who made official visits to Ann Arbor this spring, both in the transfer portal and with high school prospects.
At his introductory press conference, Michigan's new head coach talked openly about wanting to field a competitive team in Year 1, and putting a product on the floor that he could “sell going forward” to fans and recruits alike. Now, after a six-week whirlwind that saw May assemble his staff, reinvigorate donors and the program's NIL plans, and build out a roster that features a half-dozen transfers and three incoming freshmen — two of them new recruits — he sounds ready to shoot his shot again.
“I’m probably more confident in saying that now than I was then: We expect to win,” May said Tuesday at Crisler Center, where he met with the media for more than 30 minutes to talk about his roster and the challenges ahead. “There won't be a night that we walk on the court this season where we say, ‘Hey, we need to do this in preparation for later.’ We'll have expectations when we set foot on the court to win every single night or be in position to win.”
And if you can do that, May went on to say, citing one of his coaching mentors in the late Bob Knight, “then you end up winning a lot more than you lose and you put yourself in position to win championships.” He’s not promising one of those just yet, but by the looks of the roster May and his impressive young staff of assistants have pieced together, there is reason for optimism.
Michigan still has one open roster spot to fill, and May sounds like he expects to do so in the next couple of weeks. But already, there’s enough here to project a team capable of winning more games than it loses — far more than last year’s 8-24 disaster that cost Juwan Howard his job — and maybe enough to contend for an NCAA Tournament berth.
“We’re a very confident group,” said May, who never had a losing season in six years at FAU. “We believe in our work, we believe in our principles, our way of doing things. But we've been pleasantly surprised at how well-received this university and basketball program has been. And we've also been pleasantly surprised that the guys that joined us have. So, did I anticipate it was gonna go like this? I probably thought we would have missed on a few more guys than we have. But you know, it's speed dating, like I said in the initial press conference, and decisions are made quickly. And I do think we provided a real unique situation for a lot of these guys.”
It started with two guys, really.
One of them is a player May knows well: 7-foot-1 center Vlad Goldin, a three-year starter at FAU making the jump to Ann Arbor as a grad transfer. His game has improved steadily over the past few years, becoming one of the nation’s best post-up scorers while also flashing an impressive finishing ability in ball-screen situations.
The other lynchpin is point guard Tre Donaldson, a player who split time as the floor leader for a top-10 team at Auburn last year as a sophomore but likely will be handed the keys to run May’s offense this fall. At 6-3 and 200 pounds, May describes him as a “pass-first point guard” and a “strong physical guard who can defend,” and like all but two of U-M’s portal additions thus far, Donaldson arrives with multiple years of eligibility remaining.
More than just FAU guys
That speaks to the larger vision here, too. One that has come into focus quickly, but also looks different than most of us projected back in late March when this whole process started.
May didn’t just pack up his FAU program and move it north this spring. He only brought two current staff members with him in Kyle Church, who added a general manager title in Ann Arbor, and Drew Williamson, who also serves as the director of player development. Former FAU assistant Akeem Miskdeen, who’d moved on to high-major jobs in the SEC at Florida and Georgia, is also on staff, along with a couple of other high-profile additions in former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton Jr. and St. Mary’s associate head coach Justin Joyner.
“I didn't want to work with my friends,” May explained Tuesday. “I want guys who will complement me and my weaknesses, guys that are gonna challenge me and my players every day and have new ideas."
Likewise, even though there was plenty of speculation about multiple FAU starters joining Goldin here, the only other addition with ties to May’s previous stop is incoming 2024 recruit Lorenzo Cason, a former FAU commit.
Instead, what the Wolverines have assembled is a roster from all over, with class diversity — three seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen — and a variety of lineup possibilities.
“We have a group that complements each other,” May said. “We haven't stockpiled the same type of player. And I think a lot of guys on our roster make those around them better. And that's ultimately what we're all looking for: guys that make their teammates better and impact winning.”
To that end, it’s not hard to see a path to winning now that simply wasn’t there last winter for the Wolverines, who've added size and shooting and depth.
Goldin figures to start at center and play 25-30 minutes a night, but Yale transfer Danny Wolf is another 7-footer who can eat up the rest of those minutes as a five-out center or play alongside Goldin as a stretch four.
The backcourt also is brimming with options. May’s eyes light up when he talks about Rubin Jones’ tenacity as a 6-5 defensive whiz who played point guard at North Texas but can play multiple positions. The same is true for Ohio State guard Roddy Gayle, a proven Big Ten performer who visited Creighton before committing to the Buckeyes’ archrival. Nimari Burnett returns after averaging 30-plus minutes last season, while Justin Pippen, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, also has the talent and the makeup to earn a rotation spot as a freshman.
In the frontcourt is where May probably could use one more piece to complete this puzzle. But in Sam Walters, the Wolverines added a 6-10 transfer from Alabama who shot 40 percent from 3 for a Final Four team last year as a freshman. May also had plenty of good things to say Tuesday about 6-8 forward Will Tschetter, a fourth-year junior who should be a captain this fall.
But what says even more about just where things stand is what Church had to say about Michigan’s scheduling plans for the 2024-25 season. That’s one of his primary tasks at the moment, and with seven nonconference dates to fill, he’s approaching it much like he did the last couple of years at FAU, when the Owls won a combined 60 games and made that memorable run to the Final Four in 2023.
“A lot of that depends on the guys wearing the jerseys,” Church said, laughing. “But we feel like we have an NCAA Tournament team. So, we're gonna schedule accordingly. And we did the exact same thing last year. We knew we had a Top-25 team coming back, so we wanted to schedule a Top-25 schedule.”
So, there you have it: This program reboot at Michigan appears to be right on schedule.
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