Michigan coach Dusty May on if he'll have 'butterflies' for first game, why he's doubling down on comment he made on day one

In one week’s time, Dusty May will walk out of the Blavin Tunnel at Crisler Center for his first regular-season game as Michigan Wolverines basketball‘s head coach. Naturally, he’ll have some nerves, but mostly in anticipation for his team’s matchup with Cleveland State.

“I wouldn’t say ‘butterflies,'” May said. “More of just trying to figure out, where are the fouls? Where are my looking for the time and score? When I’m talking to the staff about a substitution pattern, the benches are different. Everything is different, so it’s just getting more acclimated to the other things, so you can focus your eyes on where they need to be.

“But there’s a little bit of newness nerves. I think before the Oakland [exhibition] game there were probably more, just because I had never seen our team perform as a group with uniforms on. After seeing how capable we can be, it definitely allowed me just to focus on what was important, and it definitely wasn’t me and my emotions.”

Michigan’s team, which features an entirely new coaching staff and 11 newcomer players, has already been together for two exhibition games, wins over Oakland and Toledo. But this one against Cleveland State will count, as will all the rest of the tilts this season, including some big ones.

May doesn’t give himself much of a chance to soak in the moment, though, instead focusing on the task at hand.

“To be honest, usually when I walk onto the court for the first time, I’ll notice the lights and the smells and the sounds and whatnot,” he admitted. “But once the game is tipped … to be honest, I had no idea where my family sat during the game or where the recruits’ seats were [in Friday’s matchup with Toledo].

“We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Probably something that I’m better than I used to be at is if it’s going on in between the lines, that’s all my focus. People behind us, the fans yelling — I don’t know why, I just don’t really notice any of that. I’ve probably heard one heckler in however many years I’ve been coaching as a head coach. For whatever reason, I just don’t notice any of that.”

May said at his introductory press conference in March that winning in his first season at Michigan is important. That was before he added the talent that he has from both the high school ranks and the transfer portal. Now, he appears even more confident.

“We’re going to double down on that: Winning is important,” May said with a smirk.

“But it’s also a byproduct. It’s more of, hey, let’s have a great work day today, with mind and body and spirit, and let’s have a great work day tomorrow.

“And then when the Big Ten Tournament is here in March and we’re playing our rivals in February or whatever the case, then we’ll be ready to play.

“But if we didn’t have the talent and the experience in our locker room, then I wouldn’t be nearly as confident saying it. But I think we have a good team. I love our guys. I believe in them. I’ll leave it at that.”

He’s also pleased with Michigan’s depth. The Maize and Blue possess nine players who saw 16-plus minutes per game in the two exhibition tilts, plus a freshman guard in Phat Phat Brooks who saw time. No Wolverine averaged more than 30 minutes per game, the team-high mark that junior Tre Donaldson logged.

“When you’re a coach and you’re looking at the stat sheet and you’re thinking, ‘Man, we need to find a way to get him more minutes, e need to find him a few more,’ that’s a good sign that you have a chance to be a really good team,” May said.

“[I could say that about] almost everyone, really. I think Phat Phat Brooks comes in and plays three-and-a-half minutes and changes the game; I would’ve loved to have gotten him some more minutes. But also [graduate guard] Nimari [Burnett] was playing well and [redshirt senior forward] Will [Tschetter] was playing well off the bench, and then every time [junior forward] Sam Walters checks in the game, it seems like we go on a spurt. He brings so much attention to him.”

Continued the Michigan coach: “We still need to get [graduate center] Vlad[islav Goldin] and [junior forward/center] Danny [Wolf] more minutes together so they find their rhythm and cohesion. It’s a lot different than sitting here saying like, ‘Oh, man, we’re playing him too many minutes. We’re playing him too many minutes. We gotta find a way to cut his minutes.’ That hasn’t been the thought process, so that’s a good sign.”