DENVER — In Dusty May’s seven years coaching at the Division I level, he’s done nothing but win, never finishing a season below .500 to this point in his career. Now, he’s brought that success to a Michigan men’s basketball program that was reeling in the depths of the Big Ten.
And talk of his success hasn’t been limited to whispers on the streets of Ann Arbor — even Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams, whose squad matches up against Michigan Saturday, lauded what May has accomplished.
“Obviously, coach is a genius,” Williams said Friday of May. “He’s had an unbelievable start to what will end up being a Hall of Fame career.”
There was no doubt in Williams’ voice nor his words. What he said was what he meant, that much was clear: May is a genius and May is a future Hall of Famer.
Williams has been a head coach at the Division I level for almost 20 years now. He’s circled the proverbial block once or twice, coaching against and talking to Hall of Fame coaches like former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Arkansas coach John Calipari. Williams has almost seen it all, and he doesn’t dish out compliments like this on a regular basis — he said so himself. But something about May says, “Hall of Famer.”
“I love studying coaches, not just basketball coaches, any coaches,” Williams said. “I also think that from a tactical standpoint, (May’s) 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 that, just like he had this year, success. … And I don’t use those words flippantly.”
Williams has coached against May once before, a battle in which May emerged victorious. Last season, the 12th-ranked Aggies and No. 19 Florida Atlantic squared off in the ESPN Events Invitational semifinals. It was a high-scoring affair in which lights out 16-for-30 shooting from deep propelled May and the Owls over Williams and Texas A&M, 96-89.
As a mid-major, May’s FAU squad notably had less high-end talent and depth than the Aggies. Still, fresh off a Final Four the year before, the Owls found a way to pull it off. Perhaps it was this result that opened Williams’ eyes to May’s prowess.
And to Williams point, May’s style is unique. He uses players in ways that seem strange — running 7-foot junior forward Danny Wolf as a pseudo-guard, for example — but still pulls together a cohesive product. Even at FAU, May trotted out unorthodox four-guard lineups to immense success even against bigger and stronger high-major programs.
Those who have been around May for the longest all sing praises for his coaching and leadership. And well, graduate center Vlad Goldin who played under May at FAU for three years before following him to Ann Arbor also appreciates the high-regard his coach received.
“Hopefully he is a genius and hopefully he is in the Hall of Fame,” Goldin told The Michigan Daily. “I like it, that’s my coach. When somebody says something good about my coach, I like it.”
Maybe “genius” and “Hall of Famer” are slightly presumptive, but then again, maybe not. But as Williams and May take the court tomorrow to square off in March Madness, there will be no mistaking the respect the two have for each other.
