Dusty May Previews ‘Big, Skilled’ Michigan Basketball Roster at Media Day

The Big Ten held its media day for men’s basketball on Thursday, welcoming every in-conference team’s head coach and captains to speak with national and local reporters.

During the first day, Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May spoke on a panel alongside Illinois head coach Brad Underwood and Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard. 

Here are the key takeaways from that media session:

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Dusty May Previews Roster, Upcoming Season

May started things off by giving an overall analysis of his team. 

“It’s great to be here,” May said. “When you look at our roster, we were able to get guys out of the portal that come from winning programs. They’ve been well-coached. Our freshmen have been a real pleasant surprise as well. We have a group that’s fun to work with. We’re big. We’re skilled. We’re a little bit different than all of (my) FAU teams. It’s a great group.”

May is arriving in Ann Arbor after leading Florida Atlantic University to the final four in 2023, and he brought a star with him. Senior 7-foot-1 center Vladislav Goldin followed May to Michigan to lead the frontcourt after averaging 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game as a junior.

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Underwood was asked about what people should expect from a team coached by May. 

“Well, Dusty’s FAU team was as tough as anybody could get,” Underwood said. “I mean, they were very, very tough-minded. They played fast. They were extremely skilled offensively. Great, great balance inside and outside. Obviously Vlad has made the transition to Michigan. He’ll be one of the better centers, better bigs in the country as well as this league.

“Extremely well-coached. You don’t get to a Final Four without that. Very, very talented offensively. They were a team that scored the ball in so many ways, but was so challenged by how tough they were, and I know Dusty is going to bring that to Michigan.”

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Dusty May Talks Transfer Portal

After filling out the roster via transfers, May talked about what he was looking for in general from the portal. 

“We were looking for positional size.,” May said. “We brought in great skill and a lot of size. We’re going to play Danny Wolf at the 4, who is 7′; we’ll have Sam Walters playing on the perimeter who is a 6’10” shooter, and our guards are all big. We felt we needed a physical guard with good speed and positional size up front. We have great versatility. The line-ups are going to look a lot different game by game, but we’re excited like Coach Underwood to put these pieces together.”

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Later in the conversation,

“The guy Rubin Jones has been a pleasant surprise for us,” May said. “Tre Donaldson out of Auburn. They’ve won a lot of basketball games and we’re excited to see how they mesh together with the bigger guys up front. Like I said, everyone we brought in from the portal came from a winning program, so it’s on us to put them together and utilize them.”

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Michigan Thinks Its Size Makes It More Versatile

How would size impact the way the team plays? May said it will make his team versatile:

“Well, we should be able to control the glass much better, and we should be able to find matchups,” May said. “Any time you have that type of size, you can play over the top with your passing, and they’re able to stretch the floor as well. We’ll be able to put four shooters on the court at all times. Our guards can all make plays off the bounce and shoot it from deep. So we want to be a challenge to guard and also be able to protect the paint and take away the other team’s threes.”

Michigan will play Oakland University in a charity exhibition game at Little Caesars Arena on October 20. The first regular season game for the Wolverines comes on November 4 against Cleveland State in Ann Arbor.

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