Michigan basketball: Dusty May, players preview Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Michigan Wolverines basketball makes its way to Florida this week for the Fort Myers Tipoff event, where Dusty May’s 4-1 squad will play a pair of games in a tournament setting prior to Thanksgiving.

Michigan takes on Virginia Tech (3-2) on Monday night at 6 p.m. and will play either South Carolina (3-2) or Xavier (5-0) on Wednesday, either at 6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m., depending on Monday’s results. May and his staff have been working on throwing as many challenges at his inaugural team as possible while gathering data and experience in key areas.

This week, the mission is to simulate an NCAA Tournament setting the best they can with two games in three days and a quick turnaround/prep sand sandwiched in between.

“They’re all very important for long-term, for seeding, for getting into the tournament and whatnot,” May said after a 72-49 win over Tarleton State on Thursday night. “Also, these quick turns are great to gauge what preparation you have up to this point, how quickly your guys can change a game plan and adjust on the fly. We’ll have some quick turns, and then obviously you get into tournament format. It’s not like it used to be where you’ve seen all these teams at least twice. There might be teams we haven’t seen in several months we’re playing.

“For all those reasons, I think we’re all excited to see what else we can learn about our team, because the opposition, they tell you much more than we can in practice about ourselves.”

Michigan has five players from the state of Florida in freshman guard L.J. Cason (Lakeland), sophomore guard Tre Donaldson (Tallahassee), senior guard Jace Howard (Miami), junior guard Charlie May (Boca Raton) and sophomore forward Sam Walters (The Villages). The event serves as an opportunity to connect with their families right before the Thanksgiving holiday is an added benefit.

“I think it’ll be great for guys from that area to see their families,” May said. “I love the road trips. The one thing about this level, the road trips are much more condensed for obvious reasons. You don’t have a chance to spend as much time with your guys outside of their element and comfort zone. I love it for team building. You see different guys rooming with each other. You’re around the hotel. There are a lot of benefits to doing a trip like this.

“We’re excited on a number of levels, but more importantly, we do think we’re a much better team than we were three or four weeks ago. That keeps us excited to continue improving and trying to hit the right buttons with our guys.”

Walters made an NCAA Tournament last season at Alabama and knows the value of playing in these types of non-conference events. They are looking forward to approximating what a postseason berth might feel like.

“I think it’s going to be a good simulation of what we’re going to face,” Walters said. “It’s kind of like we wanted to do at Alabama last year. We’re doing a really good bouncing back from game to game, and that’s going to have to be what we do in March. We have a lot of guys who have come from winning programs as well and know what it takes. It’s good for some of the other guys who, even for me, to have another crack at what it’s going to be like in March.”

Walters will also have plenty of friends family in attendance at the event, but the biggest thing he is looking forward to is a reprieve from the Michigan cold.

“I’m excited,” Walters said. “It’s not the coldest weather [here] but it’s cold for me, so I’m excited to get back to a little warmer weather. I know it’s going to be a little different when the real cold comes, but I looked outside my window and saw the snow and I really haven’t seen that before. I’m excited to play in front of my family. A lot of family friends I grew up with. It’s a big deal to see people I’ve known for so long.”

Junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. is a little more familiar with the midwest weather this time of year having spent the last two years at Ohio State. An escape to Florida is just what he says he needs right now.

“I’m happy that I’m happy to get some sunshine,” Gayle said. “Don’t have to worry about wearing a parka or bubble jacket. it’s a great opportunity for us to play some, some really good talent, I’m excited.

“It’ll be our second taste in away environment, kind of where we get used to not being home. We’re looking forward to getting ready and playing a team and kind of like that March Madness feeling where a late later in the season where you only get like one day or prep to prepare for the next the next game. So I feel like that that’ll help us in the future.”

Fox Sports 1 will carry both games Michigan plays down in Fort Myers at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. KenPom gives the Wolverines an 84% chance of victory against 128th-ranked Virginia Tech, projecting a 76-65 win.

The site rates Xavier and South Carolina as the 43rd and 75th-rated teams in the country, respectively.