Dusty May plans to play Vladislav Goldin, Danny Wolf ‘significant minutes’ together

Michigan picked up two of the portal’s best centers this offseason in FAU’s Vladislav Goldin and Yale’s Danny Wolf. The Wolverines plan to use plenty of both, even with lineups that will have the pair alongside each other.

Dusty May explained the additions and fits for both players during a recent press conference. He said that the team tried to be as clear as possible with each of them about where they’d be in the lineup, whether individually or as a duo.

“Yeah, well, through the recruiting process, we prided ourselves on being very transparent. Open and honest, what we tell you today is what we imagine is going to happen. Not that it’s definitely going to happen because the scoreboard, injuries, and things like that can change and derail anything,” May prefaced.

With that, May said that Goldin would likely see his work load from last season under him in Boca Raton. That would leave the reserve share of the minutes for Wolf at the five spot.

However, with their skillsets and the way that the Wolverines want to play, May added that there will be times that they play next to each other.

“Vlad, last year, played 25 minutes a game. In a perfect world, we get him a few more minutes. But we play up-tempo with a lot of possessions. It’s difficult for our players to play 32 to 35 minutes a game if we’re playing the style that we like to play. So Vlad will probably hover around that mid-20s if he’s playing at his best,” explained May. “Hopefully we’re able to take care of some games before the last five minutes so you can get those guys some rest of whatever. But, yeah, that left us probably playing Danny at 14 minutes a game at the five.”

“We play, stylistically, a different brand of basketball. Danny would be more of a five-out facilitator. Vlad is still more of a traditional center but, also, he has expanded his game,” May noted. “We definitely envision those guys playing together in significant minutes and also complimenting each other.”

There could very well be issues with using two players of that size together at the same time. Still, May thinks it actually works out well with Wolf being more offensively-minded and Goldin fitting next to him.

“(Wolf) fit us offensively. So the question was does it fit defensively with another seven-footer, 7’1 guy?” May asked. “After watching Danny, we felt like he moves his feet well. He has got good mobility for a seven-footer and he embraces contact. We think a summer of really strong, consistent weight work and speed work with our new strength coach that he’ll be ready to go.”

Goldin and Wolf are two Top-100 players in the portal per On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players. They make up two of the top-three transfers out of the six total additions for the maize & blue.

Goldin, the No. 16 transfer and No. 4 C, played a season at Texas Tech before spending the last three at Florida Atlantic. He’s coming off his best two seasons where he averaged 13 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks while shooting 64.9%. As for Wolf, the No. 77 transfer and No. 10 C, he played very well as a sophomore last season with the Bulldogs. He posted 14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 47.2% overall.

Both were all-conference players last year and each helped take their teams to the NCAA Tournament. This comes a season after Goldin was key on a team at FAU that made it to the Final Four.

It may take some work to adjust with these two on the floor, whether they’re together or separate. It’s a good problem for Michigan to have in the frontcourt, though, and is one that May is confident that they’ll figure out well.