The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 2024-25 BASKETBALL PREVIEW 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 to put these pieces together." VERSATILE FRONTCOURT It starts with the "twin towers" up front in 7-footers Wolf and Vladislav Goldin, an FAU transfer who blossomed into one of the nation's better big men under May and his staff. Both were portal priorities for several teams after their big years, and while many other programs tried to plant the seed in Wolf's ear that he would be playing behind Goldin — not with him — May convinced him they wanted to play the two together simultaneously. Since then, Wolf has put in the time in the weight room to add to his quickness so he could play power forward. Early re- turns have been very positive. Wolf can shoot it from deep — he averaged 14.1 points and shot 34.5 percent from three, 47.2 overall at Yale last year — and he's continued to improve defensively. "Danny's put in a lot of work with our strength staff. [Strength] coach [Matt] Aldred and Danny spent a lot of time to- gether," May said. "He's changed his body. He's moving better, his diet's better, and so he's taking it as a challenge to be able to guard these smaller, quicker players. "[But] Danny Wolf's as much of a guard as any of those guys we had at FAU. Now, he's still learning the nuances as far as if you have a smaller, quicker athletic guy underneath you, you can't play the same way as if you have a bigger guy guarding you on the perimeter. He's still adjusting and learning those tricks now." Goldin, meanwhile, is quite the oppo- site, a true center who alters the game in the paint on both ends. But his game con- tinues to expand, too, and they're starting to add more to his arsenal. Already outstanding finishing around the rim — he averaged 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds last year at FAU — the 7-1, 250-pounder from Voronezh, Russia, is playing more in the high post and show- ing an ability to hit the jumper more regu- larly. Should he continue on his path, the sky's the limit, May said. "We continue to add more to his game each year, and that's selfishly for his own personal ambition to play hopefully at the highest level of professional basketball," he explained. "But also, just to be more of a matchup nightmare and have more positional versatility. "He works incredibly hard. He's a great teammate. His bread and butter will still be his physicality, scoring around the rim. I think midpoint through the season last year before he got hurt in the Arizona game, he was shooting maybe 79 percent from the field halfway through the season. It shows his ability to dominate, and that was playing several Power Five schools. "His bread and butter is always going to be dominating the paint, being able to finish around the rim, rebounding and blocking shots. But he's added some range to his jump shot, and his passing and dribbling ability continue to improve." With the two bigs on the floor together, May added, the Wolverines should be able to control the glass much better and be able to find matchups. "Any time you have that type of size, you can play over the top with your pass- ing, and they're able to stretch the floor, as well," May said. "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." They want to make their own threes, too, and that's where Wolf and Walters come in. Whereas Wolf is a guy who can stretch the floor, Walters is one who ab- solutely will. Our practice observers have said he seems to gain more confidence every time he takes the floor, shooting Junior point guard Tre Donaldson (right, a transfer from Auburn) and sophomore forward Sam Walters (left, from Alabama) are poised to be major contributors for the Wolverines this season. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS