Dusty May: 'Almost complete' roster will allow Michigan basketball to be 'extremely competitive'
Michigan Wolverines basketball is generating all sorts of buzz with its recruiting, both as far as high school and the transfer portal. Over the last three days, head coach Dusty May and Co. have landed 2024 four-star guard Justin Pippen and five transfers, guards Tre Donaldson (Auburn) Roddy Gayle Jr. (Ohio State) and Rubin Jones (North Texas), wing Sam Walters (Alabama) and center Danny Wolf (Yale).
May joined insider Jon Rothstein on the ‘College Hoops Today’ podcast, and said that building the roster has been “fun.”
“I’ve explained to people, we complain about the portal and all these things a lot, and without it, it would be hard to assemble a competitive roster this quickly,” May explained. “Because of our staff, they’re building to recruit, they’re building to identify the right kind of players and then also have the years and equity and trust and things like that.
“We’ve been able to hit the ground running and been able to put together a roster that we think will be extremely competitive in any conference. So now, we just have to get everyone together and start working toward a common goal.
“It’s been fun, because roster building, there’s an art and science to it, especially factoring in NIL and the years each player has. But it’s been fun trying to build a roster that will be exciting for us to coach and work with every day.”
If Michigan sees graduate guards Nimari Burnett and Jace Howard return for another season, the Wolverines are at 11 of 13 scholarships. Michigan is also favored to land May’s former center at Florida Atlantic, Vladislav Goldin. The head coach said his roster is almost full.
“Our roster is almost complete,” May stated. “We’ll continue to add probably another piece or two — and it might be youth, it might be someone that’s just a fit. And that could look like a number of things. But we’re almost complete.
“The rosters are always changing, and you said it best with ‘Portal Kombat.’ But the portal stops for no one, so we have to stay on our toes, but we’re really, really close to having a team that will look like the team we put on the floor in four, five months.”
The team isn’t 100-percent set yet, and only a few players are currently on campus, but May has high expectations for his first season.
“To look like a real cohesive unit that competes at the highest level,” May said of what he hopes for in 2024-25. “We do feel like we’ll be big and skilled, and will have a lot of lineup versatility so we can play and hopefully win in a number of different ways. Just a group that’s extremely connected and battling with each other for a common goal.”
Dusty May on Michigan’s academic requirements
Under former head coach Juwan Howard, Michigan missed on multiple committed transfers due to admissions issues. And while May wondered about that when he was interviewing for the job last month, he said it shouldn’t be too much of a concern moving forward.
“It was one of the first questions that I asked,” May said of his interview. “And the answers were more than acceptable.
“This place isn’t for everyone. Our program’s not for everyone. The way we coach and teach isn’t for everyone. We know which players are probably outside of our pool, and it’s a small percentage. And so, when we identify a potential player then we have to do our homework early and figure out if it’s a right fit.
“Everywhere I’ve ever been, there have been certain stipulations or constraints in recruiting, and our job is to identify those early and make sure we’re being as efficient as possible with our time.
“There will be cases when it will be a hurdle, without a doubt, but it’s also something that those that clear that hurdle are also the right type of players for us. Like I said, there are positives and negatives, and it shouldn’t affect us being able to put together a really quality basketball team.”
