The college basketball season is about a month away, meaning Dusty May’s head coaching debut season with the Michigan Wolverines is closer and closer each day.
May and a two new members of the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team — centers Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf — are in Illinois this week for Big Ten Media Day. The roster is completely revamped, as six transfers, three true freshmen and three returning scholarship players will hope to bounce back from a dreadful 8-24 season.
Here are some of the key quotes from media day.
The best quotes
The Big Ten started off with a roundtable of coaches, with the first trio being May, Illinois’ Brad Underwood and Wisconsin’s Greg Gard. As I mentioned in the women’s media day recap yesterday, I’m a fan of the roundtable to combat the awkwardness of media day press conferences in a more casual feel, as if all three coaches were on a Big Ten podcast.
Opening statement: “Great to be here,” May said. “When you look at our roster, we got guys out of the portal that came from winning programs that were well-coached. Freshman have impressed, too. A little bit different than what we had at FAU.”
Getting guys from winning programs and winning habits — with guards Rubin Jones and Tre Donaldson getting mentioned specifically on the latter — has been a theme May has touched on all offseason long, and it appears to be a sound strategy. Much like how an office would want to hire employees from other successful companies, the Wolverines want coachable players with experience who will mesh well with the chemistry that a program full of new faces is trying to build.
May also mentioned he’s excited to be back in the Big Ten, previously serving as a student manager under Bob Knight at Indiana. He mentioned staying up for Big Monday and Super Tuesday Big Ten basketball were “the only exceptions to his curfew as a kid,” following that up by saying that “every game is an event” in the Big Ten.
The lights are a lot brighter at Michigan compared to FAU, so the pressure will be on May. He may get some grace this first season from the fanbase with all the new faces, and with his track record as a coach and his upcoming revamp of Michigan’s playing style, there’s a lot to be excited about.
May on Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf playing together: “We should be able to control the glass much better and find matchups. When you have that size, you can play over the top with passing. They can stretch the floor, as well. We want to be a challenge to guard and protect the paint and take away other team’s threes.”
This quote doesn’t come as a surprise, as May previously said at an availability back in May that the two will play together. They are a good pairing together, with Wolf’s playmaking ability and shooting, plus Goldin’s dominance in the post and pick-and-roll.
The duo should be able to work well offensively with more experience together. The big question is going to be how well they can defend together, as one of them will likely have to guard a 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-9 forward that is quicker than them more often than not. As expected, Wolf later mentioned lateral quickness has been a main focus for him this offseason.
New Michigan forward Danny Wolf predictably says it has been an emphasis this offseason improving his lateral quickness to guard 4s. Says coaches say he’s “way further along than expected.”
On teams potentially attacking him:
“Go for it. I would love to see what happens.” pic.twitter.com/BFjdU0lH0c
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) October 3, 2024
“It’s been challenging,” Goldin said when asked about guarding Wolf in practice. “It’s like playing against a guard who’s a little bit harder to guard when he drives to the rim because of his size.”
May on depth: “We have around seven or eight guys that can lead the team in scoring on any given night.”
I agree with this sentiment for the most part. There’s three-point shooting all over the roster, and with no obvious leading scorer candidate, this totally makes sense. I think it’s realistic that Goldin, Wolf, Donaldson, Jones, Roddy Gayle Jr. or Nimari Burnett could lead Michigan in scoring any given night, and maybe Will Tschetter or Sam Walters if they get hot from three. Michigan struggled with depth last year and really only had a few guys they could trust by the end of the year. The Wolverines, on paper, should have much more depth in 2024-25.
The funniest quotes of the day
The most hilarious quotes of the day may have come when Hank, Goldin’s extremely lovable Bernedoodle who has a solid Instagram following, was brought up.
Goldin was asked why Hank has become a celebrity among the team.
“Because he bites sometimes, he’s pretty noticeable as a dog,” Goldin said. “I don’t know, he’s just fluffy and I guess people like him.”
“I think if our team can play with the same aggression that Hank attacks every human with, then we’ll be in good shape,” May chimed in.
“Especially Danny,” Vlad added.
