The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531518
8 THE WOLVERINE ❱ FEBRUARY 2025 N obody saw this coming. S u re , wh e n D u s ty May signed on as Michi- gan's head basketball coach, the consensus appeared to be that an eight-win season wouldn't be happening again anytime soon. When fans saw him hit the ground running on player acqui- sition, they began pondering a finish in the top half of an expan- sive Big Ten. They even dreamed of an NCAA Tournament. But nobody talked — at least outside of Crisler Center — about a 5-0 start to the Big Ten season, including victories at Wisconsin, USC and UCLA. Nobody spoke about a Michigan team putting itself in position to contend for the Big Ten championship. They're talking now. They're seeing one of the better-shoot- ing teams in the nation, with a pair of seven-footers in the lineup, playing an up-tempo, exciting brand of bas- ketball. They're focused intensely on a crew that's three made shots away from standing at 16-0, instead of a very re- spectable 13-3. They're buzzing about not only what's happening right now — in May's opening foray on the Michigan sideline — but what could be happening at Crisler for years to come. That's the sort of impact the new re- gime whipped up in the first two months of the basketball season. Take a 7-foot-1 center from Russia, add in a 7-footer from Glencoe, Ill., via the Ivy League, toss in a dollop of three-point shoot- ing and aggressiveness from Auburn, and stir in a thus-far amazingly unself- ish cast of characters up and down the lineup. Stir briskly, and you've got the most pleasantly surprising team in the Big Ten and beyond. Those first three, respectively, are grad center Vladislav Goldin, junior forward/ center Danny Wolf and junior guard Tre Donaldson. They've been top impact players for this crew early on, but there's so much more. There's grad guard Ni- mari Burnett, a holdover from last year's squad and as rock solid a contributor as May could ask. There's junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr., who came in from Ohio State and never blinked at wearing blue. And there's redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter, who in this very issue talks about helping welcome Wolf, an early sensation who's averaging a dou- ble-double (12.4 points, 10.1 rebounds) with 62 assists, second only to Donald- son on the team. Tschetter made certain Wolf knew he was welcome aboard, even though they play the same position. That's the sort of unselfishness May's preaching. The Wolverines are listening. And winning. And amazing onlookers. The Wolverines' shooting percentages through these sweet 16 games — 51.9 percent overall, 37.8 percent from three- point range — are a direct result of un- selfish play on the court, May insisted. "There are going to be nights when the ball just doesn't go in and we're not making threes," May said. "But we have a very versatile group. I think we're No. 1 in the country in two-point percentage. People will say, 'Well, Coach, why are you shooting threes?' The shooting, the spacing, allows you to get those dunks and layups, and the dunks and layups allow you to get in-out threes, step-in threes. When you look at our step-in threes, we're one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country. "There lies the decision mak- ing. Do I still shoot this shot, even though I'm open? On some teams, this might be a good shot, but on this one, because we have Vlad or Danny or Tre, it may not be as good of a shot. The guys are all starting to turn down some pretty good shots to continue to fight to get a great one. That's a process. It doesn't happen over- night." If they maintain that mindset, there's no limit for what's ahead. "The first thing that comes to my mind is self-awareness and sacrifice," he explained, ham- mering out basketball's version of The Team, The Team, The Team. "Not all players have great self-awareness, where they're going to put their own personal goals and ambitions ahead of the team. "Our entire roster is sacrificing for their teammates. When you have a guy that's shooting 75 or 80 percent, maybe I slide over here or maybe I throw him the ball. There's also a trust factor that he's going to play the right way, and he's going to play unselfishly. "You can see these guys really buying in to each other. The tough part is, if one guy breaks that chain, then it becomes contagious. We just have to be very in- tentional and play the right way. "They see Vlad, they see Danny in the 4-5, and Tre gets it going in the pick- and-roll. Those guys have done a nice job of finding what's working and stay- ing with it. It's much easier said than done." So is starting 5-0 in the Big Ten, with three road wins. But it's getting done — faster than expected. ❏ WOLVERINE WATCH ❱ JOHN BORTON It's Not Dusty May, It's Dusty Will May directed the Wolverines to a 13-3 start to the season, with their three losses coming by a combined five points. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Senior writer John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @JB_Wolverine.