Dusty May Gets It

May did an interview with Champions Circle that had a lot of encouraging quotes in it; Dusty May seems to understand the current state of college basketball and is going to deal with it as best he can:

A lot of times us coaches, I think we expect more out of these young men than we do ourselves. I've tried to be even transparent with my processes of jobs and whatnot and even with our guys at FAU. They read last year that I was up for jobs and this and that, and I explained to them that we're all sacrificing here. I'm not telling you that to earn any more equity with you. I'm just saying that this is part of being a member of something great.

And then you come here, and the contract, the length of years was never my priority with any of these jobs. I wanted to pursue the job that fit me and I felt like we could be the absolute best we could be. But then again, when these players and everyone looks and sees how much coaches make, they naturally want a bigger piece of the pie. They deserve more than what they were getting. But it's such an unregulated market and you never know.

I do want all the players that play for us to be taken care of. And what I mean by 'taken care of': To be able to to have their parents attend games, to be able to eat what they need to eat to be a high-performing athlete. And also, my goal with anyone that has NIL, is save enough money where no matter what happens next, you can at least have a down payment on a house and you have a nest egg built.

That's about right: they should get paid, but it's got to be about more than that. May hasn't put a foot wrong so far in his brief tenure.

Speed Dating

A few guys have progressed to the "actually definitely a target" stage:

FAU C Vlad Goldin fielded another prediction in favor of Michigan, this one from Joe Tipton. This one seems over. Goldin will be on campus this weekend as soon as the dead period ends and I bet one dollar he does not leave campus uncommitted.

[After THE JUMP: new portal entries perk up the ears]

Also on campus this weekend: Yale C Danny Wolf. I imagine we'll get a quick answer about whether Wolf is okay with 15 MPG as a backup 5 plus 5-10 as a 4 (maybe?) with the prospect of being the starter next year. If not Michigan will need to expand their search for a second center.

Toledo SG Dante Maddox cut his list from eight to five. Michigan remains. Louisville, Xavier, Creighton, and Illinois are the others. This one still feels like a longshot, as Maddox has set up visits to three of his suitors but does not have a date for a Michigan visit (or Creighton, FWIW).

Seems like it's Michigan or Indiana for Wisconsin SG Connor Essegian. Essegian was supposed to be on campus this weekend as well, but it's unclear that is still on.

Michigan hasn't been listed with Eric Dailey but he doesn't go anywhere else in this post: he is apparently trending to UCLA.

They Have Received Texts

New guys Michigan has sent a text to:

• Oklahoma State PG Javon Small. As mentioned in a previous post, Small is finishing up his true junior season and that seems like an admissions death knell.
• BGSU PF Basheer Jihad (102 ORTG on 31% usage, 49/36/76 shooting, ton of FTs, elevated TO rate). Jihad is also a true junior, so unlikely.
• Dayton SG Kobe Elvis (105 ORTG on 21% usage, top-250 assist rate, 39/37/85 shooting). Grad transfer. Two point shooting extremely questionable for a guy with a middling usage rate.
• Morehead state PG Drew Thelwell (110 ORTG on 19% usage, 52/34/66 shooting splits, 29 assist rate, 20 TO rate). Grad transfer, true point, but elevated TO rate. Iowa seems to lead.

Speculative Phone Calls

Throwing some darts:

Auburn freshman PG Aden Holloway hit the portal. Holloway's sister is a current WBB commit. The Holloways' mom is an alum and their grandfather played at Michigan in the 1960s.  Holloway had a bit of a rough first year, shooting 35/30/77 after coming in with a reputation as one of the best shooters in his class. Really good assist and turnover rates,—22 and 12, respectively—especially for a freshman. Freakish catch-and-shoot splits (86th percentile when guarded, 12th when not) plus rep as one of the best shooters in his high school class suggest that deep shooting has major upside. Second percentile at rim is a concern.

This one may be less speculative, since Auburn people are mentioning Michigan as a potential destination.

USF grad C Kasean Pryor also hit the portal. Pryor spent a couple years at Ann Arbor Pioneer before spending his final year at a prep school. His career is strange: virtually no playing time in two years at Boise, a sit-out year, and then an out-of-nowhere blowup into a 26% usage player on a good USF team. Pryor played center for USF but he has three-point range, a face-up game, and is not a plodding guy. If you think this guy can stay in front of Big Ten fours…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqa3BM-SgMY

…he would be an excellent pickup. I do. DJ Wilson vibes. Should have two years left.

Arkansas SG commit Isaiah Elohim re-opened his recruiting. Apparently Elohim chose Arkansas over Kansas and Villanova; we'll see if Michigan tries to get involved.

Georgia SF Jabri Abdur-Rahim hit the portal as a grad transfer. Abdur-Rahim is Just A Shooter who played about half of UGA's minutes the last couple years and was reasonably efficient. Miskdeen obviously knows him. Michigan recruited him heavily under Beilein but he chose to go to UVA.

Extremely speculative % updates

Now with everyone on the board; bold is updated.

• Vlad Goldin: 80% –> 95%. All but done.
• Johnell Davis: 70% –> 60%: Seems like NIL will be a big factor and while May is going to try, I would not assume Davis's personal loyalty will win out when he's got one year to make bank before a pro career that doesn't seem like it'll be in the NBA.
• George Washington III: 60%.
• Khani Rooths: 60%.
• Danny Wolf: 60%. Wolf entered asking for no-contact, has already had an in-person visit with May, and nearly walked on at Michigan instead of going to Yale. Even if Goldin does come it seems like he's willing to play 15 MPG and then start as a senior.
• Connor Essegian: 60% –> 50%. If the visit doesn't happen this weekend that's probably bad.
• Alijah Martin: 70% –> 40%. Apparently May is telling people he's going to get one or two guys from FAU; Goldin is one. I would assume Martin and Davis are mutually exclusive then?
• Aden Holloway: off the board –> 40%. Family connections warrant place on board.
• Elijah Elliott/Ty Robinson/Lorenzo Cason: 40%.
• Terrance Williams: 30%.
• Carey Booth: 20%
• Brandon Garrison: 10%. I am assuming he gets pre-empted by Goldin and Wolf.
• Eric Dailey: 10%.
• Dante Maddox: off the board –> 10%. Top five but three visits set and one isn't Michigan.
• Liam McNeeley: 1%.
• Giancarlo Rosado: 5% –> off the board. Michigan's going after other bigs.