Dusty May met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the off-season work he’s put in as the newest head basketball coach of the Michigan Wolverines. One of the biggest topics of the day was the success that May has had in the transfer portal, bringing in a whole host of veteran guys who should have an immediate impact this season.
Here are some of the most noteworthy quotes from May’s presser:
On how he’s built the roster
“We wanted to mix…we wanted to add some young guys with some old guys. But, most importantly, get guys that fit culturally and had a baseline of talent. Its been enjoyable to see the group come together, to try to fit these pieces and parts together. Use our imagination based on past experience, and just find the guys that we felt like were right for this university and right for us. And because of the staff’s diligence, their hard work, the relationships that have been built over time, we were able to get guys that we’re extremely excited to grow with.”
On how he plans to utilize his two transfer centers, Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin
“Through the recruiting process, we pride ourselves on being very transparent, open and honest. What we tell you today is what we imagine is going to happen, and not that it’s definitely going to happen. Because the scoreboard, injuries, and things like that can change and derail anything. But Vlad, I think last year played 25 minutes a game. In a perfect world we get him a few more minutes, but we play up-tempo with a lot of possessions, so it’s difficult for our players to play 32-35 minutes a game if we’re playing the style that we like to play. And so Vlad will probably hover around that mid-20’s if he’s playing at his best, and hopefully we’re able to take care of some games before the last five minutes so you can get those guys some rest of whatever. That left us probably playing Danny at 14 minutes a game at the five when Vlad’s not in is how we probably envision it. We’d be able to play stylistically a different brand of basketball, where Danny would be more of a five-out facilitator, Vlad still more of a traditional center, but also he’s expanding his game. So we definitely envision those guys playing together significant minutes, but also complementing each other.”
On Danny Wolf’s skillset
“We watched Danny play a few times this year. I’m personally familiar with the Yale program because one of my son’s teammates from high school is on the team there. They’re well-coached, and obviously making the NCAA tournament this year. But Danny, he’s a very, very good three-point shooter for a 7-footer. He dribbles the ball well, he handles the ball like a guard. He passes it, they played through him offensively. That’s how we used our backup center last year. We’re very well versed in that style of play, and he fit us offensively. And so the question was, does it fit defensively with another 7-footer or 7-1 guy? After watching Danny, we felt like he moves his feet well, he’s got good mobility for a 7-footer, and he embraces contact. So we think, with a summer of really strong and consistent weight work and speed work with our new strength coach, he’ll be ready to go.”
On whether or not the roster is set, and how many scholarships are currently open
“We have one open spot right now. We’re being patient, but yet aggressive. It has to be the right fit. Once again, we’re trying to also just gauge our roster now, and look at it closer and see if we need anything more long-term or short-term. Hopefully those questions will be answered within the next couple of weeks.”
On his expectations for the upcoming season
“We expect to win. 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 that when we set foot on the court it’s to win every single night, or be in position to win. Obviously a lot goes into winning. You put yourself in a position to win every single night, and then you end up winning a lot more than you lose…and you put yourself in a position to win championships.”
On if he’s surprised that the roster came together as well as it did
“Surprised? Um, we’re a very confident group. We believe in our work, we believe in our principals, our way of doing things. So 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. Did I anticipate it was going to go like this? I’d probably thought we would have missed on a few more guys than we have, but it’s speed dating like I said in the initial press conference. Decisions are made quickly, and I do think we provided a really unique situation for a lot of these guys.”
On the mentality he wants his teams at Michigan to have
“The mindset is extremely important. We’re trying to find guys that are incredibly competitive, that love the game of basketball and what comes with it. We’ve typically been attracted to those guys, and those guys have been attracted to us.”
“As far as the ‘pass-first’ and the stylistic stuff, there has to be talent and skill. But we also feel like if they’re really, really completive, then they’ll figure some things out. That’s what competitors do, they find ways to win. And so, it wasn’t as if we have to have ‘this,’ or this guy didn’t didn’t shoot this percentage. If he didn’t fit the criteria perfectly, we just kind of analyzed why, and maybe he could support the team in different areas. There’s always a give and take with every player.”
On specific goals like winning the Big Ten Championship and beyond
“No, actually I shy away from goals every single day. I have no idea what our goals are, other than be really, really good this next possession, this next practice, this next workout, and this next conditioning. Long-term goals, I never think about that. I glance at the schedule, we’ll use it as far as planning. But no. We expect to put a team on the court that is going to compete at a high level every single night, and with the talent-level we have, there’s no reason to expect we can’t win a lot of those.”
