INSIDE THE FORT, Part 2: Intel on Michigan basketball summer workouts, how Dusty May is bringing new-look group together

This summer couldn’t be more crucial for Michigan Wolverines basketball , which has added six transfers and three freshmen to its new-look roster under first-year head coach Dusty May and his staff.

The Maize and Blue have been hard at work, but May has taken a different approach than former head man Juwan Howard did. In the past, U-M used all eight of its weeks of summer training consecutively, but this year the Wolverines are going a few weeks on with multiple breaks mixed in. Michigan was off this week but back at it beginning Monday (July 15).

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Just about the entire team has been healthy enough to practice, too. North Texas graduate transfer Rubin Jones is one who’s been held out, though, since he’s recovering from a torn hamstring he suffered (and played through) at the end of last season. Durral ‘Phat Phat’ Brooks has been limited due to a knee injury he played through during his senior season at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central, and fellow freshman guard Justin Pippen hasn’t been full-go recently as he nurses a minor groin ailment.

The third of three freshman — Lorenzo ‘LJ’ Cason — has been the “surprise” of the summer. Not that he’s the best player, of course, but he’s impressed the most relative to expectations, since most knew what the likes of graduate center Vladislav Goldin , junior forward Danny Wolf , junior guards Roddy Gayle Jr. and Tre Donaldson and sophomore forward Sam Walters would bring.

One source said Cason surprised “all of the players.”

“He’s as competitive of a guy we have,” the source noted. “Really, really tough shot-maker, plays his tail off.

“I think that with a whole summer of him going up against Tre, who’s also one of the most competitive guys on the team, he will be ready.

“We only have one so-called veteran guard and then three freshman guards, but our three freshman guards are pretty damn good, and I think they will be definitely be ready to compete in the Big Ten, especially after a full summer with Dusty just getting them ready.”

Brooks, Cason and Pippen are all combo guards, the source said, and in May’s system there isn’t just one player who brings the ball up. Michigan could use three combo guards, a wing and seven-footer Goldin in the middle, though Wolf — another seven-footer — is certainly in contention to start at the ‘4.’

We asked who the “alpha” on the team who will demand the basketball in big moments is. The response, at least at this point, is Donaldson, a point guard who transferred in from Auburn.

“He’s a good enough scorer to get a good look but also smart enough of a player to make the right play,” the individual said. “If, at the end of a game, he decides he wants to take it to the basket and he gets double teamed, he’s great at that drop-off pass, and Vlad will go dunk it. He could kick it to the corner, Sam Walters, Roddy Gayle, Will Tschetter for three. We’re very happy with that result. I could see him being a great decision-maker. He can shoot the ball, too.”

How Dusty May won over Michigan players in short order

It only took several minutes for May to impress the team in his first meeting with the then-current Michigan team back in March.

“You spend five minutes talking to Dusty, you can really see that he is as big of a basketball junkie as it comes,” one source explained. “He told them in the first meeting, he said, ‘Listen, I lived in Boca Raton for ‘x’ amount of years. I had access to some really nice golf courses, some nice water to go out boating or fishing or whatever.’ He was like, ‘I literally spent my time watching film, studying, figuring out how to get our team better.’

“You see that Dusty knows what he’s talking about and he’s serious about winning.”

The trust factor came together quickly with returning players and the newcomers, and May and the coaching staff have pushed them “to their limit” this summer. They’ve “made some serious strides.”

It also helps that Michigan’s coaching staff is young. They’re all at least playing defense during 5-on-5 runs this summer, and it’s helped. The reads they give are to encourage the players to take the kind of shots they’re looking for in games (less mid-range, more layups and threes, for one example). What better way to teach it than being on the floor?

“Dusty plays very fast-paced, a lot of transition threes and layups, not as much mid-range and stuff,” a source said. “I would even call it a skill to play fast. It’s something that you really gotta learn to do.”

May teaches it in a very specific way — they’ve even been playing without taking the ball out underneath to keep play moving at a fast pace.

Here are some of May’s coaching skills, including teaching how to play fast with early pitch aheads, on display:

“That’s the advantage of having such a young staff, is that all these guys are able to literally be on the court. It makes a huge difference, and I think that was partly strategic on Dusty’s part,” the source continued.

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