The first on-court action of the Dusty May era is nearly upon us, as the Michigan Wolverines start practice on Monday. Before things kick off, May joined Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block podcast this week.
There was much to discuss, as there are several storylines fans are tracking ahead of a season that will come with high expectations thanks to the hot start May is off to on the recruiting trail in the early stages of his Michigan tenure.
Here are the top quotes you should takeaway from the interview.
1. The sole remaining open scholarship
“We’re being aggressive this week, to try and I guess cast — well I guess we have been casting a big net for the last couple of weeks. But we have also been extremely selective, and there’s probably a few guys that we would have went on earlier in the process before we filled out our roster. But now, it’s either going to be someone that really, really impacts today, winning immediately, and also fits into the group as far as skillset and what the holes in our roster might be. But we also might look at a young, developmental player. Someone that can help us down the line and will learn and bang against these guys day in, day out. And so, we’re looking at it from several different angles. Or we may hold tight and carry the scholarship over for next year. And so, we are working with a sense of urgency, but we don’t feel like there is any panic to add someone just to be adding. And in our profession, too, there are times where you just kind of sit and wait and you’ll have a really — a potential big time player that can kind of fall to you because of the situation.”
2. On the returners - Will Tschetter, Nimari Burnett, Jace Howard
“First and foremost, every single player that I met and spent time with on their way out, they were great people and I learned a lot from them about this place, about them and why they chose Michigan, what’s kept them at Michigan, and what’s made them decide to leave Michigan, because I am curious and I want to do the best job for this place. But they were all great, great guys. But the three that stayed, I think my first question to all of them, or one of my first questions, would have been, ‘Would you choose to attend Michigan if you didn’t play ball?’ And all of them said without any hesitation, ‘100 percent, absolutely’. They all loved it here. And so when you have something that brings us together, it’s something bigger than ourselves. And that’s the association with this Block M. I do think it makes our jobs a little bit easier to retain and also acquire quality people. But it was comforting for me to know that those guys took a lot of pride in this place and wanted to leave here on a winning note and with a legacy. And it was difficult at first because I couldn’t tell them what their roles were going to be. I couldn’t tell them what I projected as far as minutes, or their anything, because everything was so different and so new and I needed to get to know them. But I know this, I enjoyed spending time with all of them, I mean Will, Nimari and Jace, they are all guys that you could leave at your house for a month and have no concern that they are throwing a Project X party. They’re great guys that represent this place well and we are very, very gracious that they stayed because they’re going to help us and hopefully hang a banner on their way out.”
3. The coaching staff filling out
“We are in a sport where we are all very, very competitive. There’s a lot of alphas that are coaching. With this group, I knew a good chunk of our guys were going to be great teammates because I worked with them and they helped and supported each other, and then obviously coach Boyton and coach Joyner and those guys. What it has taught me is, when you hire people that are self-aware, they have a high EQ and they care about people, they figure out ways to fit in like good teammates do. They read the room, and then they figure out the best way for them to contribute and support each other and help each other. And it’s been refreshing because those guys have hit the ground running and they seem like a group that has been together for years, and they complement each other as our own team that stays together many seasons as players come and go.”
4. How they filled out the roster from the transfer portal
“There certainly are cases of love at first sight and a lot of the guys we were able to bring in, we fell in love with. Typically if we are in a situation where we can’t make our decisions in advance, we make a decision, or I formulate my opinion or decision, and then I try and shoot holes in it or tear it down and redline it. And with all of our guys, there weren’t any significant red lines. But as far as the true relationship piece, that is still a ways away before we earn their trust and they earn our trust. So we are excited just to see what makes these guys tick, what motivates them, and help them through their struggles. Because we all have blind spots and that’s our job also as coaches is to figure out a way to make sure we are complementing and supporting them in their blind spots. And then as a head coach, I tell the team a lot that I make more mistakes than all of them, so it’s a very safe place to learn and grow. And we are always either trying to get better or protect ego, and so with our players, those are the things that as they get to know us, we pride ourselves on adjusting, and trying (to) cater to how they operate the best.”
5. The goals of summer practices for the team
“We’ll want to establish identity with the way we play as far as tempo, pace, and expectations as far as passing and cutting and teaching principles. The nuts and bolts and X’s and O’s will come down the line. Right now, it’s going to be these are the expectations as far as work, as far as how we respond to adversity, how we compete. Those are the things we will be working on this summer and as we build our offense and defense from a foundational standpoint. But we’ll also be learning and studying our guys because if they are already really, really good, or exceptional in an area, then we’re simply going to incorporate that into our style of play in some way, shape or form. And if, for example, if a guy proves to be a great shot blocker, then that tells us that we might be able to go out and be aggressive in full-court. So there’s a lot of things that we are going to look at because we try to really take look, take a step back, look at our best players, what do they do well, what’s our group, do we feel like, the strengths of our group, and really try and attack in those areas.”
6. Starting from square one with the team
“Right now, until we have our team together for a month or two, we’re not going to know exactly how we are going to do things. We still have to evaluate and analyze our guys and then get together as a group and figure out the best way for the team to play on offense, defense, and everything in between. And so, that’s the exciting part of the summer — we can really get to know our guys on the court, off the court. So we can’t wait to get going on Monday.”
7. A third-party company to assist in scouting and scheduling
“We’ve brought on a third-party analytic company that works with us in scheduling and the portal recruiting and opponent scouting. And so, we are working with them as well to try and choose the teams that will help us as far as seeding in the NCAA Tournament, but also teams that play a certain style. But yeah, we are getting very, very close. The easiest games to schedule are the only ones that we have remaining at this point.”
