Michigan Basketball: Everything Dusty May said during his Big Ten Media Days 2025 session

On how spacing with the big men will be different or similar to last year

There will be some similarities, but I think, Yaxel, we’ll probably try to get him downhill a little bit more. We manipulated a certain spacing with Vlad and Danny that won’t necessarily be as effective for this group as we anticipate, but also our bigs aren’t the same. Morez has been injured, so he hasn’t had a chance to play with Yaxel and big ball handlers as much, but Adai is a lot different than Vlad, so we will use it, but it’s not going to look like it did last year. Those two guys made it work.

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On Morez Johnson Jr.’s status

He’s day-by-day.

On Trey Burke being honored by the program

It was in the works last year. Coming into the situation, I was drinking out of a fire hose so a lot of those things would would just be brought to my attention and, obviously, I wanted it to happen because I know how much he means to the University of Michigan. I don’t know the behind-the-scenes processes to things like that, but what an ambassador for the University of Michigan, for our program, and coincidentally, we’ll be doing it in conjunction with the Buckeyes game, so it should be a fun night. Quite a coincidence (laughs).

On the non conference schedule

We talk about it a lot in our program that we need to do what’s best for the the Big Ten, our game, our university, our athletic department and a lot of times I think we tend to think about what’s best for me as the coach or whatever the case so we both felt like it’s great for the number one in a geographically challenged league like we have to not play someone that’s a bus ride away.

Didn’t make sense from our perspective, but also just the attention and energy around the game is great for all parties. We had an unbelievable game there last year. We were very fortunate to escape with a win. It was back and forth, and I would anticipate both games will be like that this year, and I know the television networks were excited about it, so it made sense on all fronts.

On Roddy Gayle’s leadership

Roddy’s such a relational person. He’s a great human being, so I think new probably doesn’t benefit him to not have a relationship with his teammates, with his coaches, and he’s so genuine and authentic that now I feel like he has a great relationship with everyone in our program, and he’s been a real sounding board for the young guys. He always tells them the right things, and I don’t know if I’ve been around anyone that is universally as liked and respected as Roddy. There may be some equally, but no one any more, and so he has a really strong voice, and as a staff, we know that we can trust that it’s coming from a real healthy place and in a team-first mindset.

On Roddy Gayle saying that he has a ‘weird mind’ in practice by trying unique things

Well, I’ve been called much worse. You know practice is a time for practice, and so, if you come to one of our film sessions or games we’re not striving for perfection, we’re not striving to be right.

We’re experimenting and trying to find the best ways for us to play and a lot of times if there’s an idea or something that I think relates to our personnel, we’ll try it in practice, and those reps in practice will tell us do we need to switch it up a little bit or tweak it or is it just not for us or we don’t have the the passer to complete that play, we don’t have the size to convert that or that’s not really worth the time it’s gonna take to memorize that the steps that got to it. This year we’re probably behind in our tinkering because the last couple weeks, we’ve got most of our base in, but we’ve had some injuries and illnesses, and I don’t like to put in a lot of new stuff if we’re missing more than one or two players.

On whether the versatility of the roster allows him to experiment with things

Absolutely. The only way it works is if you have talented players who are also very intelligent and they’re adaptable to the situation and our basketball IQ on this year’s squad is extremely high, as was last year.

On the recruitment process of Yaxel Lendeborg out of the portal

To be honest he’s he is the least recruited player on our roster as far as our pitch we went and essentially met with him for maybe 45 minutes to an hour, and from that point on, all signs pointed to him that he would be at Michigan unless he was in the NBA. It was more of what he was looking for at that moment, it was exactly what we are and who we are and the familiarity helped. I mean, we competed against him. The UAB program, I was an assistant coach there so I had a lot of relationships and Yaxel was familiar with our program but I think more than anything else the way our guys were at FAU and the way they were at Michigan as far as caring about each other and playing well together and doing it in a real team-first mindset, I think, is what exactly what he was looking for at that time. Then the Danny Wolfe-Vlad, the unique skill sets, he can envision himself doing a little bit more than doing some different things in it, and fortunately, and then, obviously, the brand of Michigan, I think, anyone that follows college basketball respects the Block M.

On why Lendeborg decided to return to college

I think he wants to be ready, and he’s he’s a very humble young man that doesn’t think he’s arrived. He knows he has a long way to go, as all of us do, to reach our goals, so I think that was the biggest thing. He felt like he would be more prepared for the NBA after playing in the Big Ten for a season.

On Wisconsin adding Nick Boyd to the team

Oh man, I love Nick Boyd. That’s my guy. Man, the year he sat out, we didn’t turn a corner until the Final Four year, and we wouldn’t have turned the corner if Nick would have played the year before. He’s battling a foot injury and wasn’t a hundred percent and so he essentially became an assistant coach to me that year and some of our conversations still stick with me to this day. He’s a competitor, he’s someone that brings out the best in people and he loves the game and has a will to win that really fit our staff. He’s one of the big reasons that I’m sitting at this stage now, so Nick will be a part of my life forever. We’re gonna try to bust him up in Ann Arbor this year, but other than tha,t I’m gonna be rooting like hell for those guys. I’m gonna be a fan of the Badgers every other night because of Nick.

On whether he knows the starting lineup would be right now

No, we’ve had so many guys out that it’s tough to tell. Obviously, I think Roddy and Nimari, the two guys here, have really solidified themselves as guys. They’re gonna be counted on. Elliot Cadeau, LJ’s been out a couple last couple weeks with an injury, and they were they were battling. Up-front, I’m not really sure yet. I mean, obviously, Yaxel is one of the more talented players in the league so it comes down to health and timing and whatever else with that other spot, but we just haven’t had our group together to figure out the right pieces yet. Hopefully, Morez has a chance to play in these exhibitions to kind of get his rhythm back but I really have no idea and I would think because of the personality of our team this year that these guys don’t care either. It’s gonna be more of a matter of how do the rotations fit and who plays well together, what combinations, and we might just walk our whole team out for the starting lineups and just keep it moving.

On whether there are any major health concerns with the team right now

We have some bumps and bruises, and we’re very, very cautious this early in the season. There are a few guys, I don’t know if LJ will play, our season’s long we want to be our best in March, and anytime some guys are out it gives you an opportunity to look at maybe a guy that wouldn’t have played in real life situations. Our response to the injuries are always good, whatever it is, good, we’ll be better off long-term because of it.

On his message to the team with handling pressure

There’s no hidden agendas in our locker room, everyone wants the same thing and that’s to chase championships. We know we’re a long way from that. The beautiful thing about being in this league, there’s 18 teams and so I feel like it’s impossible to try to knock us off or knock Michigan State off, it’s going to be a futile warfare every single night in the Big Ten. So we’re not really thinking about all those other teams as opposed to maybe what we’ll see from them, but I know that I’ve caught myself several times the media’s asked who’s who do you anticipate being this or who do you anticipate being that and I’ll rattle off four or five six teams I think could win it and then as soon as I stop talking I remember three or four other teams that, when I look at their roster, I think, man, they have a real shot if they can stay healthy and they can find a way to come together. The field is wide open. I mean, we’re gonna chase it just like everyone else.

On fitting Lendeborg into the lineup

I thought before we signed Yaxel it would it would be a tall task that we’d have to really fit some things together. After coaching Yax this summer and fall, he’s a guard, he’s played some point guard duties. He’s guarded point guards, he actually guards point guards better than he does five men, in my opinion. He’s got a real unique skill set and he loves to pass it, he overpasses, and so usually that helps with chemistry and the locker room because everyone — our team’s very unselfish.

On this team being a good fastbreak team

There’s a chance, but we’re gonna have to get a lot better, more committed, to it than we’ve been in practice. That’s probably the only thing I’ve been disappointed in, is we’ve had too much lag time going from defense to offense, so obviously in October we don’t need to be our best but we need to make a stride in that area.

On whether he’s been able to see a jump from Johnson Jr. despite his injuries

Yes, his last practice was by far his best. Itt’s tough because when he’s in the post going against Adai, Adai is 7’3, so he’s learning to finish around, through, over one of the better rim protectors in the league. I thought his decision-making this summer came a long way and it was more just the reps of putting in his hands — as I said in practice in the summer, we’re in education and experiment mode. We’re not in win mode, so I thought he really did a good job of orchestrating offense and being a ball mover. He wasn’t necessarily shooting a lot, but he was moving the ball and playing like Adai does and I think that really helped him because he looked a lot more comfortable towards the end of the summer than he did at the beginning. He’s gonna continue to get better because he’s a workhorse. That guy puts in the time, he’s a warrior. I loved coaching Morez this summer.

On the impact Mark Barnhizer had on him

I’d like to think that I had it in me before Coach Barnheiser but he certainly pulled it out of me and all of the guys around me. I mean, there’s no bigger competitor on the planet and so I definitely wouldn’t be sitting here today if he wouldn’t have came to my town and coached our basketball program because he changed the culture of a town of people in every sport. I’m very, very grateful for Coach Barnheiser.

(Unintelligble question)

I mean, I love coaching older guys, so it would be fun. I just worry that then it’s gonna be six for six and seven for seven, and what’s the right cutoff to not be on a college campus? I don’t know these questions. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about those things or fighting it or agreeing or disagreeing with it. If I don’t have any control over it, then I’m gonna leave that up to Tony and the guys representing the Big Ten and our presidents and our administrators because they spend more time researching and whatnot. There’s no simple solution to any of these problems we’re facing.

On his thoughts on NCAA Tournament expansion

I’ve said repeatedly, what’s our purpose? I think that to do what’s best for the game, I would have to think expansion and getting more more quality programs into the Big Dance and if it does expand, I would think that people would schedule more aggressively, which is good for the game, and play more meaningful games. I’m also a very nostalgic person, I love the history of our game, so if it was at 64, I would think that’s great as well. I don’t have a strong opinion either way, but I know whatever we decide to do, then I’m gonna be a strong supporter of that way.

On any defensive pests on his team

We have a couple. Elliot Cadeau, at times, has been a real irritant on the ball. Yaxel has been as disruptive as anyone. Roddy Gayle, as we’ve seen, is capable of really causing problems on getting the the ball stopped. Nimari Burnett’s come a long way guarding the basketball. Will Tschetter, probably the most underrated part of his game, is his ability to guard smaller, quicker players, which allows you to play with even more size on the court offensively. Yeah, we have a lot of different weapons. We’ve got to do it more frequently, but guys have shown in small doses a gift of guarding the ball and being disruptive.

On the balance of Nimari Burnett focusing and coaching on things he does well vs. adding to his game

Well, after coaching these guys, we feel like we have a much more clear idea of what we want their player development plan to be. We gave him two or three things that we felt like he needed to address to make the next step in our program, and he’s done i,t and he’s done it at an A-plus level. I mean, the guy’s a consummate pro, he’s a culture builder, he’s essentially an assistant coach for us with recruits. He has such a unique background of experiences that I lean on. If I have a question or I don’t have a great pulse on something within the team, I ask him. Roddy and Will are the guys I go to and ask for some help figuring some things out I need to that I haven’t yet.

On what he appreciates about Braden Smith’s game

What do I appreciate about Braden Smith’s game? I mean, he’s a maestro. I mean, he’s someone that played in concert band growing up. He’s able to conduct the whole thing and generate open shot for his bigs. They have a really great plan around them and they have pieces that make it work. But his competitive spirit, I mean, I could go on and on, you’ve heard us mention him as maybe the best player in college basketball so you can’t be the best player in college basketball without having elite physical attributes unless you got something real unique inside of you and his brain and his heart are exceptional from the outside looking in.

On competing against the best teams in the Big Ten

I would be very disappointed if we weren’t playing extremely meaningful games late in the year.

On Malick Kordel coming onto his radar and his growth

I said it earlier in a different context, when people watch your team’s play, for example, Purdue is able to recruit the best shooters in the country now because they watch Purdue play, and Purdue attracts those guys. If you watch St. Mary’s, now they’re getting tough, gritty, tough suckers because when you turn on the TV year after year that’s what they have. So our big guys did a lot for us. The people around Malick thought that the job that our staff did with Vlad, and the style of play, was conducive for Vlad success that they thought he could eventually be a similar player as Vlad. From there, we watched the film, we thought something very similar and we grabbed him early. He didn’t announce it until late because he was still working through some things but we think Malik — he’s added a lot to practice so we’re optimistic he’s gonna be a real good player before he’s done at Michigan.

On players being out opening up opportunities for Kordel and Oscar Goodman

Yes, that’s the positive of these older guys going out for a week or so, that Malik, Oscar Goodman, we’ve slid him down to the five to guard bigger guys and then be a stretch five. Will Tschetter, we moved him back to the five. So necessity forces you to look at some different things and tinker, and because of these minor injuries and illnesses, we’ve been able to look at different combinations. Malik’s made a — before he went out sick last week, he had made a big jump. He’s probably our most physical player, and he’s really pushed to Adai Mara to be more physical and be more aggressive.

On the importance of having a player that can get players open shots

The first part is much more important because if we’re gonna rely on making difficult shots, then you’re gonna have to be a really good offensive rebounding team, and this is gonna have to be some layers to it. Elliot on the other hand can break down the defense, can create advantages and knows what he’s doing and where he’s going with it. Hopefully, because of his ability to break down the defense, the offensive rebounding becomes easier, the shots become less contested and higher quality. Like I’ve said, we’ve gotten more easy baskets in the summer this year than we did all the last year in practice, and that’s not a shot at anyone, that’s just Elliot’s natural ability or work, the ability that he’s developed, and to be in that point guard role.

On why the program was willing to wait on Lendeborg’s NBA decision

The communication was very authentic and more of just let’s see where we are and supporting him through the process and he was updating us on the workouts and a lot of times the NBA guys we know would call us and tell us how he worked out and how their conversation was. As far as the other stuff, giving him financial incentive to come to college or anything like that, we didn’t do any of that. We felt like we had a really great opportunity for him, we felt like he raised our ceiling exponentially, and even some guys who would have to sacrifice playing time on our team were very supportive of getting him here. Because, ultimately, if we were at a high, high level, everyone benefits versus bringing in everyone having good individual stats where we are right now. We’ve never tried to be the best, that was never our goal. Our goal is to be competitive and understand that all of us, if we want to chase a championship, are going to have to make sacrifices just like any Super Bowl champion. They typically lose a lot of their guys because the team cause them to be overvalued, and so we want our guys to be taken care of, but also understand that — I don’t think we have very many guys in our locker room that are really driven by money. We want them to be taken care of financially because there’s money being generated, but I say all the time, I don’t think anyone in our locker room would maneuver or operate differently on a daily basis if they weren’t getting paid or they were getting paid whatever they were a few years ago when when you simply count on Allstead and Pell Grants and whatnot. Now they’re able to do meal preps and live in nice apartments and not live with roommates. Other than that, I don’t think — and they drive really nice cars for the most part, but other than that, I don’t think any of their day-to-days have changed.

(Unintelligible question about NIL)

It’s a commitment by our collective. Last year, the Champions Circle, who’s there evolving as well our administration’s been very supportive of making sure that our players feel appreciated and valued and so you know some places that I’ve been they can’t do it, it’s not possible, they’re working in the red every year as an athletic department, as a program, unfortunately. At a place like Michigan, we’ve been around 20 years longer than our state and so we have a very, very proud alumni base and I’m very grateful that they’ve accepted me into this proud tradition and fraternity, it’s been awesome so far. I can’t say enough good things about Michigan, they’ve surpassed expectations in all facets, NIL and rev share included.

On why the program was prepared and ready to be aggressive in the portal

In today’s climate, I think our recruiting is overestimated and their recruiting is underestimated. I think these guys go into the portal with a clear idea of what they want, and if it’s financial, they know where to go. They know what schools to call. If it’s style of play, they know who — they watch games, they follow social media, they know each other. Every player that we recruited immediately after making contact called, don’t say called, no one calls anyone, they DM or reach out to our current roster or our former players to do homework on us. Yes, we watch a lot of basketball, we have big staffs now, we know who’s good and who’s not and when a really good player goes in the portal, we immediately make contact and see if what they’re looking for matches what we have to offer. We’re very transparent with what our vision is and how it’s going to work. Obviously, those things can change, but I do think our honesty and the way we’ve treated our players in the past and how much time we invest in them has paid dividends because now with the open lines of communication, these guys have been in camps with each other, they’ve attended the same prep schools. A lot of the recruitment is done behind the scenes especially within teams, the players recruiting other players.

On relying on data vs. playing in determing options on the court

I was hoping to have more data up to this point, practice data, but we still have several weeks. But it usually comes down to feel. As coaches, sometimes we make the numbers say what we want them to say at times, but a combination of both. We take a lot of pride in playing fast, so it’s not as if we can have a six or seven man rotation anyway and so once we get into the flow of the game we play more guys and that’s where we’ll lean on the combination of eye and data because when I look at the stats and the combinations it’s stored back there someplace. But when I’m watching them, the live action, if it’s going really well, really poorly sometimes, it just stamps what you already thought, or you need to take a deeper dive at it, but that’s why we have a big staff. Our staff, they do a lot of that and they put those those nuggets in my ear in real time.

On the new coaches in the Big Ten

Well, the coaches we’ve hired in this league, they don’t need my advice. These guys are proven winners. How many new ones? Three new ones? Four? We’ve got Ben, Buzz, Nico, Darian. Those four guys, they don’t need any advice from me, they’ve been doing at an extremely high level and they’ve earned their way here.

On putting his playbook in before Big Ten play

A close friend of mine that played in the league and also coached in the league told me you need to have everything in before Big Ten play starts because once you get into conference, there’s not much time to practice new things or deviate from what you have in there. There’s not enough time with the travel and the odd playing every night of the week essentially, so you need to have what you have in because you’re not going to be able to pivot. So we planned on that and we felt like we did a good job of it but we didn’t feel like we did a good enough job because there were a lot of pivots and then just you forget how much at this level, I shouldn’t say at this level with the amount of history and tradition the programs have in our league, how much each game means to the to the student body, to the fans in that area, the community. When you walk into Lincoln, Nebraska, or West Lafayette and the buzz, to quote Jon Rothstein, it’s palpable. You can feel it when you walk into these arenas.

On the Michigan State rivalry

It was much better before I came into the league (laughs). No, obviously there’s a lot to be made of our rivalry, he put on a masterclass last year. The job that he and his staff did was one of the better coaching jobs that I’ve seen. Once again, I’m not taking — I thought they had really, really good players and those guys, you could tell, they came together and did something special and so I’ll leave it at that. You can’t have anything but respect for their program. Do I like them? Hell no. But do I respect them? Absolutely.

On coaches who have been at one place coaching for a long time

It’s different because the guys that have been at one place for a long, long time, it’s almost like they’ve been in a different sport than those of us that have had to bounce around and see different things. They’ve been great ambassadors for our game and great mentors to our coaches but you don’t get a lot of advice from guys that are trying to beat your ass, and so we’ll leave it at that.

On Nick Boyd helping Wisconsin

Nick Boyd can help Wisconsin in a number of ways. He’s a winner, he’s a competitor and he’s a heck of a basketball player. I love Nick, he’s family. It’s gonna be hard trying to trying to go at him that one night hopefully one night and we don’t play him at the Big Ten tournament again. But nothing but love for Nick Boyd, you guys are gonna enjoy watching. He’s as passionate, energetic skilled player there is. I’m excited, once again, just to be a part of his journey and watch him grow. He was like an assistant coach for me one year also while he was injured.

On what has impressed him the most about Morez Johnson Jr.

What’s impressed me the most is his warrior mindset and how coachable he’s been. He wants to get better, he watches film, he puts in individual work on the court. He’s not afraid to hold his teammates accountable and say what’s on his mind, so he was playing at a high level before he went out with his injury, and so he’s gonna have a monster year for us, I’m confident.

On the big men playing together at the same time

We haven’t had a chance to see them as much as we would have hoped for a number of reasons, but I said at the time when you have really good players, no matter how tall they are, usually you can find a way to make that work and those three guys are really good. We’ll definitely see it at times. Are we gonna ride it for 40 minutes? Absolutely not, but there’s gonna be times when we play really, really bi,g there’s gonna be times when we play really, really small. The thing about this league, the other coaches and programs dictate that typically.