ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Things are changing in a hurry for Michigan basketball with just three players returning from last year’s team after Juwan Howard was dismissed from the program. In the aftermath, new head coach Dusty May revamped the roster through both recruiting and the transfer portal, and the Wolverines will basically look like a brand new team this upcoming season.
Given all of the new players and the new philosophy, what can you expect to see on the court? May said on Tuesday that the transfer additions fit what he’s looking to accomplish and further delved into the overall ethos for this upcoming team.
“I think it’s very conducive to how we want to play. That’s to shoot a lot of 3s, that’s to get to the rim and get fouled — which allows you to set your defense,” May said. “I think out of all the guys we’ve signed, there’s only one of them that has a lesser 3-point percentage than we prefer but he shot really well the year before that and we think he is a much better shooter than his numbers indicate last year. That’s the feel versus the science.
“I think we will be able to play very similar. It’s going to look a little bit different, we’re going to be bigger. We probably won’t be quite as fast. We recruited to do the things we think will produce the highest value shots and that’s what we’re always going to look for. If there’s ever a case for it, and this group can’t do that, we’ll have to figure out another way to win. Like I said earlier, we have competitors and competitors have to find a way, they’re obsessed with finding a way to win.”
So how did he go about finding the right guys who could fit the philosophy he’s working to establish in Ann Arbor?
It’s one thing when you get recruits and bring them into the fold out of high school, as they can be molded to fit your vision. But transfers? They’ve already been molded somewhat.
May constantly reiterated ‘mindset’ as being crucial, but also shared what attributes he was looking for when looking for transfer players to come to Ann Arbor.
“The mindset is extremely important. We’re trying to find guys who are incredibly competitive, love the game of basketball and what comes with it,” May said. “We’ve typically been attracted to those guys and those guys have been attracted to us. Luckily, now, when you look at our roster, there’s always a connection. We felt like we could get real information on players. They can get real information on us. They were direct messaging our former players, checking up on us and making sure. It’s a different era where it’s very difficult to be dishonest and not be held accountable for it.
“The mindset was extremely important. As far as the pass-first and stylistic stuff, there has to be talent, skill, also, we feel like if they’re really, really competitive then they’ll figure some things out. That’s what competitors do, they find ways to win. It wasn’t that we had to have this or we had to have this guy who didn’t shoot this percentage, if he didn’t fit the criteria perfectly, we just kind of analyzed why and maybe he could support the team in different areas. There’s always a give and take with every player.”
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