Six months after leaving Florida Atlantic for Michigan, Dusty May's return to the Sunshine State was a success.
May led the Wolverines over Virginia Tech 75-63 in a Beach Division game at the Fort Myers Tip-Off Monday night at Suncoast Arena.
“It's nice to be back,” May said. "One of the guys said they saw a lot of FAU hats and shirts, and obviously, with so many Michigan maize and blue here, that's nice that people the area that the root for our staff and our players.”
In his six seasons at FAU, he accumulated 126 wins, led the Owls to a Conference USA Championship, a program-best 35-4 record in 2022–2023, and two NCAA Tournament appearances, which included the program’s only Final Four appearance in 2023.
May announced on March 23, 2024, that he was leaving the Owls to become the 18th head coach of Michigan’s men’s basketball program, replacing Wolverines legend Juan Howard. The Wolverines added 11 transfers and freshmen, many of which are from Florida.
“Obviously, all the guys from Florida on our roster are very important rotational players for us,” he said. “Being back home in front of friends and family, they want to play well.”
For former FAU standout center Vlaadislav Goldin, Monday was a homecoming as well. He transferred to Michigan utilizing the NCAA's COVID-19 eligibility extension to join May, who coached him the previous three years. He was top-three in scoring during his last two years with the Owls and had a career-high 534 points and 56 blocks in his final season.
“I think he does let the guys know what's really important when we need to really have our antennas up for certain things,” May said of Goldin. “But he's been invaluable, just because he's such a great teammate, he's so unselfish, and he's always trying to do things for others, and those behaviors are contagious. So we're very, very grateful. He came up north with us.”
The move has been beneficial so far as the Wolverines improved to 5-1 after their win Monday after an 8-24 record last season. Michigan's sole loss came to Wake Forest by two points.
The teams struggled to score early Monday, as they shot a combined 4-16 (25%) early in the first half.
Virginia Tech picked up the slack and went on a 14-3 scoring run with seven different players scoring over the next five minutes. The Hokies led 16-8 halfway through the first half.
Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr. was the main contributor in getting the Wolverines back in the game before half as he scored 11 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds to give the Wolverines a 34-33 lead at the break.
The teams had 34 combined turnovers, with the Wolverines taking advantage scoring 15 points off of the Hokies' mistakes and limiting Virginia Tech to just two field goals through the game's final 11 minutes.
“Can't turn the ball over 19 times,” Virginia Tech coach Lamont Paris said. “Guys, I don't care what level you're at, I don't care what lead you’re in.”
Michigan’s lights-out defense was supported by a dominant offensive effort by Goldin, Gayle Jr., and guard Tre Donaldson, who combined for 26 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds in the second half.
“I feel like we answered a lot of questions,” Gayle Jr. said. “As far as Michigan basketball, I feel like the narrative of us is that we were soft, and I feel like we were able to, you know, answer that question and rise up to the challenge.”
The Wolverines will face No. 22 Xavier on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in the Beach Division final. The Musketeers defeated South Carolina 73-64. Virginia Tech will face the Gamecocks at 6 p.m. in the third-place game.
In the Palms Division, Miami (Ohio) beat Siena 70-58, and Mercer beat Jacksonville 90-89. Mercer and Miami will play in the Palms championship at 1:30 on Tuesday. Sienna and Jacksonville meet in the consolation game at 11 a.m.