The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 37 2024-25 BASKETBALL PREVIEW We're excited to compete against them. In college athletics, rivalries are healthy, but rivalries are only rivalries if both teams are really good and competitive. Hopefully going forward, we're both competing for champion - ships, and I'd love to see them be runners-up to us every year." — Dusty May on the U-M vs. Ohio State rivalry THEY SAID IT Jones averaged 12.1 points and shot 41.6 percent from long range, while Donaldson posted 4.7 points and 2.3 assists last year. "He's steady … he's consistent, and those are the things at this level that you'll win with — guys who are there every day with the same approach," May said of Jones. "That's the reason that our fresh- men have gotten a lot better, because they have just been really steady with their ap- proach. Their work hasn't deviated based on their motion." That includes Donaldson, who is the favorite to start at point guard. Auburn fans were sad to lose him, thinking this would be a breakout season for him. "First and foremost, we wanted to recruit winning players, guys that have been in winning situations," May said. "And if you look at the Final Four the last several years, how many of those were carried by one player or a superstar? … They had five or six guys that on any given night that could be their best player. "The official visits, obviously, are awesome. Home football games with 110,000, 111,000 fans, to feel the electricity on our campus and the passion that our alumni, our students, our local community have for the University of Michigan is unparalleled, and so it's been a blast." — Dusty May on recruiting "I knew we signed a really good player. I don't think I realized how good of a player. He's adapted really well to this level. I think he's already surpassed all expectations. When you sign freshmen, and they're not in the McDonald's game or playing with USA Basketball, you anticipate it to be a slower process. He's been pretty impactful from Day 1. Obviously, he has to do it on the big- gest stage under the bright lights, but it doesn't seem like anything fazes him. He's won a lot of big games in high school on the AAU circuit, and he's just a young guy that is unflappable." — Dusty May on freshman guard L.J. Cason "It's great to see him every day. I think he's done a nice job of earning the trust of his teammates. When he's at the basketball facility, he's not my son; he's their teammate, and I treat him accordingly during practice." — Dusty May on coaching his son, junior guard Charlie May, a walk-on UCF transfer "Vlad is the only player to come with Coach May and his staff from FAU. He buys into everything they say and gives a little bit more of a grounded approach into what they're doing and has experience with it. He's a built-in leader. He's always smiling, he's always in a great mood. Guys can lean on him for advice when they need it. If Coach is saying something and you don't know what he means, you can go to Vlad and he can help you. Vlad's awesome to have around the facility and go out there with every day." — Junior forward/center Danny Wolf on how graduate center Vladislav Goldin has been at the forefront of head coach Dusty May building his culture at Michigan "I can't imagine us not playing in very meaningful games late in the season." — Dusty May to CBS Sports "Well, Dusty's FAU team was as tough as anybody could get. I mean, they were very, very tough-minded. They played fast. They were extremely skilled offen- sively. Great, great balance inside and outside. Obviously [graduate center] Vlad [Goldin] has made the transition to Michigan. He'll be one of the better centers, better bigs in the country, as well as in this league." — Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, who competed against FAU when Dusty May was its head coach — Clayton Sayfie PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS