Texas A&M's Buzz Williams on Michigan's 'genius' coach Dusty May: 'He's had an unbelievable start to what will end up being a Hall of Fame career'
DENVER, Colo. — Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams has immense respect for Michigan Wolverines basketball head man Dusty May. The two squared off last season in a non-conference tournament game in Orlando, with May’s Florida Atlantic crew beating the Aggies 96-89. They’ll go at it again Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Williams, who’s been a head coach since 2007 and has taken three different programs to the NCAA Tournament, has observed May from that but also studying college basketball as a whole. May, 48, is in his seventh season as a head coach and has already had immense success, leading Florida Atlantic to the 2023 Final Four, and Williams sees more coming his way.
“Obviously, Coach is a genius,” Williams said when discussing Michigan. “He’s had an unbelievable start to what will end up being a Hall of Fame career. He represents all that’s right about college athletics.
“The notoriety he’s deserving of, I think a lot of it comes from what they do offensively. Just from studying him prior to Florida Atlantic, then listening to all the podcasts he does, things of that nature, you can tell there’s a lot of uniqueness in how they play.
“There’s some FIBA, some European sort of stuff. How he has comprised his first roster at Michigan, you can see the influence of how he would like to play.
“Obviously, I think they’ve done a great job thus far.”
May is known for watching film of all levels of basketball to learn and get ideas for his current job. Williams has done the same and noticed the way Michigan’s head man has grown in the industry.
“I love studying coaches — not just basketball coaches, any coaches,” Williams revealed.
“I think last night was Coach’s fifth NCAA tournament win. Obviously, he won at Florida Atlantic. His fifth one was last night.
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“I’m familiar with his time at Louisiana Tech as an assistant with [current Georgia head man Mike] White, obviously an assistant for Coach White at Florida. I just love coaches.”
May impressively took a Florida Atlantic program that had little resources to its two winningest seasons in history, including the deep run to the Final Four. At Michigan, he built a roster in short order, bringing in nine newcomers, and had the Wolverines finish second in the Big Ten regular season and win the conference tournament.
“I think at his age, for him to have a brand-premier job like Michigan, I think it sets you up, particularly in the industry the way that it is now, to have that level of job at that age with those level of resources,” Williams said.
“I also think that he has the skill set and the appropriate demeanor to be able to handle all of the ever-changing things that the industry has brought.
“He’s young enough in his career and has the energy on those things he can’t control. I also think from a tactical standpoint, his style of play is so unique that they’ll be able to create a roster on an annual basis that will be able to play in a way, just like he had this year, success. 14-6 in the Big Ten is really, really good. I don’t use those words flippantly.”
