The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 9 BY ANTHONY BROOME T he holidays have helped Michigan's men's basketball find a way to bond and use their platforms for good. The team, including head coach Dusty May, took part in a Toys for Tots event at Auntie Anne's pretzel shop at Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor Dec. 10 in conjunction with Champions Circle. A group that is still rounding into form on the court continues to connect off it. "Anytime that you're able to get away from basketball, it's always good to get together with the guys," graduate for- ward Will Tschetter told The Wolverine. "When fans come up, there are always some pretty wholesome moments. For me personally, I like hearing the stories. Throughout the past five years, people coming up and talking is always great. "It's cool to get out and see people and take our mind off things for a little while. I think about how fortunate we are and the position that we're in. It's cool to give back and really puts things into perspective." Senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said tak- ing part in community events is of great importance, and it serves as a way to ground a team that would have every right to puff its chest out. "It brings us down to earth and hum- bles us," Gayle said. "It doesn't put us on such a pedestal where we feel like we're better than everybody else. I feel like it's a great opportunity for us to be able to connect with our community and also for us to build that team bond. "With this roster, with this team, we actually enjoy being around each other. And that's something that you don't re- ally get a lot at this point in college bas- ketball. You really don't get a team that really enjoys being around each other. "This is another good thing for us." May has taken an all-encompassing approach to building the program right down to the finest details. How the Wolverines honor the name on the front of the jersey off the court has also been a major emphasis. "We talk about representing the Block M the best we can," Tschetter said. "That was one of the first conversations I had with Dusty when he got the job, repre- senting that the best we can, whether it's guys doing their own individual thing or doing total team events or being a part of the community in Ann Arbor and Michi- gan or your own community back home. "He always shows up to these things, peeks his head in. I think that says a lot about him. He has to talk to people all the time, gets asked questions all the time. I know that can be a lot. But he's always a great sport about this sort of stuff. He comes out and makes sure that people are well aware that he's involved in the community." Some of the program's most forma- tive experiences in the past two seasons, such as tournament wins in Fort Myers and Las Vegas and success in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, have helped bond the team members when they get away from Ann Arbor. Gayle sees events like the toy drive as an extension of that. "It's really nice because most of these guys are young," he said. "Some of them are away from their families for the first time. It's an amazing experience for us to be able to come together for these type of events. The whole aspect of holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, is to be around family and people that you love. "None of our guys were forced to come here. I think it was something that everybody wanted to do." U-M wants to make sure that it uses its platform for good whenever it can. "We're very fortunate and blessed," Gaye said. "It's important for us to be with some of the people who look up to us, whether it's kids or young adults. To have the opportunity to connect with them is something that is great for me." ❑ ❱ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS Men's Hoops Team Gives Back Off The Court Graduate student Will Tschetter (left) and redshirt freshman Oscar Goodman (right) helped hand out pretzels at Auntie Anne's when the U-M basketball team took part in a Toys For Tots event at Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor Dec. 10. PHOTO BY ANTHONY BROOME