Everything Dusty May said ahead of Sweet 16 matchup against No. 1 Auburn
ATLANTA — Ahead of the matchup with the top-seeded Tigers just over 100 miles from their campus, first year head coach Dusty May and his No. 5 seed Michigan Wolverines took to the podium Thursday inside of State Farm Arena to preview the second weekend contest.
Below is everything May said about Auburn at the podium and inside the locker room here in the peach state.
On Johni Broome:
“I think we're all aware at how lethal he is on the block and getting to where he wants to get to and drawing fouls. He's added a 3-point shot, and then he's a very good passer, and he kind of quarterbacks their offense. So he's a challenge on a number of levels.
“We actually recruited Johni aggressively at FAU, and there were four big guys the same year at South Florida, and at that time we couldn't oversign. Giancarlo Rosado committed before Broome. We begged him to wait until the spring, but he wanted to go and get it over with so he committed to Morehead State. I can't imagine if he was on our FAU team as well.
“He's a good basketball player. He's always been a guy that's just produced. He's been effective. Even before everyone knew who he was, he was getting double-doubles every night against high level players.
“We've just got to make everything tough. We've got to challenge his catches, we've got to push him off a step or two, just make life difficult for him.”
On familiarity with Bruce Pearl:
“It's not our first time crossing paths. I was sitting out as a Division II player at Oakland City. We played in USI's tournament when Coach Pearl had the Screaming Eagles at the top of college basketball. Their university was 20 miles apart.
“Actually, in that tournament if I remember correctly, Central Oklahoma State who had Eddie Robinson played there, an NBA player, there were some really, really good teams, and then there was us.
“So I'm very familiar with the program he built there. His dad, when I took the FAU job, I was out trying to round up fans one at a time. I'd go to breakfast with old guys coaches and lunches. His dad was in some group with some former players from the Celtics from the '30s or whatever, and they would meet and talk ball for lunch. I'd go and have breakfast with those guys and have lunch.
“Steven Pearl and I, we've crossed paths for years recruiting. Extremely familiar with Coach Pearl when I was assistant at Florida was when he came into the league. So there's a lot of -- a few degrees of separation with Coach Pearl. Couldn't have more respect for the way he's been able to sustain winning, build programs wherever he's been, and been at the top of college basketball.”
On Tre Donaldson and Danny Wolf’s experience with Auburn:
“Obviously Tre has a lot of insight with his teammates, with the system and all that. Coach Pearl is going to change his calls. They're going to have different names. It's going to be similar to every other scout.
“As far as Danny knowing how to beat Auburn, if you play a team, if we could beat the Hawks 1 out of 100 times, it doesn't mean I know how to beat Quin Snyder and the Hawks.
“Obviously Danny did say, hey, a couple times against the press, we tried to do. A couple times against this switch, we tried to do this. Really, really good insight.
“At the end of the day, it still comes down to execution. I'm not sure any of us know how to beat Auburn other than play really, really good, sound, poised basketball for about 80 possessions hopefully.”
On Donaldson’s time with Pearl and the Tigers:
“Yeah, but even the player that Tre shared minutes with last year is playing for Alabama right now. The personnel is different. Obviously we all know Johni Broome. He's got a little bit of insight on Baker and those guys, Mazara.
“From my understanding, he's very appreciative of his Auburn experience. They won. It's got him to where he is now as a person. So, no, he's never been negative at all about BP or his teammates or anyone. I think it's just he needed a change, and that's not always unhealthy.
“I said that the other day that I was in the transfer portal last year, a lot of these players in the transfer portal, sometimes change is healthy at different stages of your life. He just needed a fresh start, and he's found a place where he's been embraced, and he's had a bigger role.
“He's certainly produced for us and made big shots and continued to grow. He's getting better day by day, week by week.”
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
