The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 21 "Boynton has head coaching experience, is a proven recruiter, highly connected, and will match the culture May brings to Ann Arbor. I can't stress enough how vital Boynton will be to this coaching staff." In addition, Georgia assistant Akeem Miskdeen — a former May assistant at Florida Atlantic — was slated to join May at Michigan, as well. Miskdeen had recruited Johnell Davis to FAU and re- portedly has a great relationship with him, as well as former Michigan verbal pledge Khani Rooths. Rooths reopened his recruitment af- ter U-M fired Howard, but there ap- pears to be a solid chance May can get him back in the fold. A four-star wing out of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, Rooths was pre- dicted by some to land at Georgia due in large part to Miskdeen's efforts. Miskdeen has also coached at Flor- ida, Kent State and Hampton. He was with May from 2018-21 when the Owls racked up a 47-41 record and three straight winning seasons. After leav- ing FAU, he joined Mike White's staff at Florida in 2021 before following him to Georgia ahead of the 2022-23 season. Both May and Miskdeen are former pupils of White. "Akeem demonstrates all of the val- ues that you look for in someone you want to work with," White said after Miskdeen joined him at Georgia. "He's a great human being, relentless worker, good coach and recruiter, but most of all a tremendous mentor to young men." And so is May, who was literally the hottest young coach on the market for programs looking. Michigan and Louis- ville were seen as the two top contend- ers to land him before he ended up in Ann Arbor on a five-year deal worth an average of $3.75 million per season. Louisville fans were stunned, think- ing they had their man. In the end, though, he chose to return to his Mid- west roots. "Louisville is an unbelievable bas- ketball school," May said. "But this was the right fit for me and my family. And it just felt right. I'm a big fit guy. And from Day 1, this was one that I just thought would match me and allow me and those around me to have the highest level of success doing it the way that we enjoy doing it." ❑ DUSTY MAY TO MICHIGAN — WHAT THEY'RE SAYING Jeff Goodman, Field of 68: "Dusty May's agent, who's not really a college agent, did a great job I guess, because Louisville thought they were going to get him, Vanderbilt thought they were going to get him and all of a sudden … listen, Michigan was always in play here, and if you talk to people close to Dusty, this is the place that he felt he fit the best and can win at the highest level. "Louisville, obviously, had the highest upside, [but] it's in the ACC. Michigan is in the Big Ten. Ann Arbor is probably somewhere he feels like he fits a little bit better. He got some guarantees that he'll be able to get kids in easier transfer-wise, which was something that obviously plagued Juwan Howard. And [former Michigan head coach] John Beilein showed you can be in the equation to winning national titles at Michigan. The brand is huge." Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News: "After the painful task of dismissing Howard, Warde Manuel moved quickly to a task that could've been equally tough. U-M contacted its search advisers, identified several candidates, and went to work. Questions about how high the school would aim were answered. May signed a five-year contract worth an average of $3.75 million, compared to Howard's original $2.2 mil- lion salary, and he'll be introduced Tuesday at a news conference in Ann Arbor. "The roster is decimated … a short-term replenishment of the roster would be beneficial, but that wasn't U-M's primary objective. Moving swiftly was the goal." Charles Barkley, TNT: "He was at Florida Atlantic. No disrespect, but this is Michigan. Listen … ev- erybody in life wants a better job. Michigan is one of the best programs in the country. Period. That's a great hire. … I don't know him personally. He did a great job at FAU, but when Michigan calls, when you're at Florida Atlantic, you've got to take that job." Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press: "Juwan Howard had built a reputation in the NBA as a promising up-and-comer. He'd learned under the best coaching staff in the league, led by the Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra. But he'd never been a head coach anywhere, nor a coach in college, nor anywhere near the day-to-day workings of a college program, outside of his playing days nearly a quarter-century earlier. Talent matters, obviously, and Howard had his moments in attracting some to Ann Arbor [including two future NBA first-round picks, only one of whom was related to him]. "Roster-building and talent acquisition aren't the same, however, and May has shown he can fashion a roster despite bronze-level resources — FAU's facilities brought out tears, and not the good kind, after he took the job sight unseen, he told reporters last year. "From his remote outpost in Boca Raton, Florida, May scoured the country — and Europe — looking for players. Mostly, he wanted guys that could shoot, read defenses, move the ball and absorb scouting reports in practice. "His 2023 Final Four run came on a tsunami of three-pointers and spac- ing; his arrival there a year ago must have made all the nights he nerded out, devouring sets from various Euro leagues, worth it. "Like so many coaches, May is a basketball junkie. When he worked as a student-manager under Bob Knight at Indiana, he filled stacks of note cards dur- ing practice, sometimes incur- ring the wrath of the old man himself, who couldn't stomach a manager who wasn't paying atten- tion to loose balls." Clark Kellogg, CBS: "From a distance — I don't know Dusty May at all, but I've watched him work, watched his teams play. I think this is a terrific get for Michigan because he's an ascending, outstanding coach." — Chris Balas PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY