On biggest takeaways from the season

Martelli: As a team, our flaws stayed our flaws, in a way. I think last summer when we started to work with this group, I wondered about our shooting. That stayed true. If you look at the back end of the year when we were playing good basketball, you walk away from the Villanova game and say, 'Well, could it have been or should it have been?' We didn't make shots. I also reflect on the game against Ohio State here at home. We didn't make shots. In July, I wondered. At the end of the year, I was pretty certain we were a beat off in our ability to make shots. I didn't understand how crowded the floor would become for Hunter Dickinson when that happened. That was clearly an issue. I thought that our young guys would grow. They really did grow. Even the guys the fans didn't see grew. I think Saddi would agree, Isaiah Barnes is a better player than he was on November 1. Wil Tschetter was a better player than—he's a better player today than he was on January first. Even Kobe Bufkin, they're better players. The teaching aspect that is a baseline in this program stayed true.

Washington: I think that old saying, we went from boys to men. It was a labor of love for sure. We were battle-tested throughout the season. I would echo a lot of what Phil said. I think the overall theme for me, especially reflecting on championship teams that I've been part of is consistency. I think that, throughout the season, we had spots that we played really, really well and showed flashes of what we could be and what our potential is. Then there were times where we struggled. That's when we took our lumps. I think that throughout the season, the consistent teaching and the consistent learning, from both sides, from staff, and players is what kind of elevated us to what we saw towards the end of the season. I walked away encouraged. I think our staff walked away encouraged from where we started to what we evolved to the end of the season. Being a couple of possessions away from making it to the third weekend. We count a lot of that as wins. Just excited about the future of Michigan basketball.

On contributions from the coaching staff during Juwan Howard's suspension

Martelli: I would say that even the time when Juwan was out, it was actually a tribute to him. I would suggest this: I know this is Teacher Appreciation Week, every teacher out there is appreciated. Just like a parent is appreciated with how your children respond to the babysitter and the substitute teacher. What happened over those twos was as if Juwan was there. Whether it was preparing for Oregon three years ago, whether it was preparing any of our games for these three years, people see the 40 minutes. They don't see the hours and hours and hours—and we discuss it. How do you want to guard these ballscreens? Who is that voice in the room? Yes, Juwan is that voice. We're with him. Every single possession and every single situation is determined. When it came—OK, you're going to be the one standing up, then, OK, do you, Saddi. Do you. It's extraordinary. He's going to be an extraordinary head coach. Not just a head coach, he's going to be an extraordinary head coach. The same with Howard Eisley. When people are around us, well Howard seems quiet. He is. But he's the whisperer. He's the point guard whisperer and he's the offensive guru, really. He and Juwan, when they get together, you're like, 'I don't know what just happened.' But we just added three more sets or two different options. We could be hours from a game. I've been public that when I went to bed the night of the incident, I was like, 'I can't be him. I don't know the hand signals, I don't know the whole playbook.' There's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of plays. When I woke up and my wife said, 'Do you. Be yourself.' What I would do? I would turn to Howard Eisley and say, 'Run the offense.' What people don't know is, we went all the way with this. We called the Big Ten because we knew the spotlight would be on us with the referees. I just wanted to be able to say to the referees, look, we don't want anything to do with you. We have nothing to do with you. He's going to stand up. So don't come over with this Mickey Mouse stuff and say sit down. Which is exactly what happened in the Big Ten Tournament against Maryland. They came over and were like, 'Only one guy...' Stop, come on, stop. This isn't my first show. Nobody is saying a word to you so don't make this about you by coming over and saying sit down. Our meetings were the same conversations. When we went on the floor, similar to a classroom, when we went on the floor, that's the player's time. Game time is the player's time. Practice is the coach's time. We coach them with some quirks. Juwan uses a whistle, I never used a whistle. We use a clock but, being honest, we use the clock loosely with coach. I'm a slave to the clock. Those small things. When the test came, it wasn't about the three of us jumping and gyrating. How are they handling? Are they nervous? No, it's about those players. People know that I have a lot to say but I said it from my heart and from my mind. Those two guys were brilliant.

On Eisley calling offense and Washington calling defense

Martelli: Because of scouting assignments or whatever, if that's your scout then you work with Saddi to build out the defensive gameplan. What people saw was group teaching. If they still do group teaching in schools, it was a group. It had nothing to do with this individual or that individual. It had to do with the collective we.

On what Washington learned from Martelli

Washington: Phil is an OG. Once everything came down, we all communicated to coach Juwan, 'Listen, man. We've got your back.' It couldn't stop there because now Phil is running the show for however long it needs to be. At that time, remember, we didn't know if it was going to extend into any postseason. That following morning, I walked into his office and I said, 'I got your back. Whatever you need from me, whatever you need from us, I got you.' I think he already knew that, right? The way we operate and the way coach Juwan has our staff and our program set up is that everybody comes in with an egoless mentality. From day one, this guy here, with all of his experience of being a head coach, with all of his success, I never, for one day, felt like we weren't equals, we weren't brothers, connected in this. For me, in my perspective, it was really easy to get down with whatever direction that Phil wanted to do. He was very clear, I'm not Juwan. I've got to do it my way. That was perfect for me. I worked for Greg Kampe back at Oakland. He never put together practice plans, very rarely. We would walk into practice as a staff just like the players would, kind of like, alright, what are we gonna do next? You became a professional in just being on your toes and be ready to execute whatever the plan was. With Phil, it was cool to watch him seamlessly transition into that first chair role. For me, as a young coach still learning, growing and taking mental notes, it was awesome to see him do his thing. I think. for us, coach Juwan has always given us a really big voice within this program. We're always coaching and we're always teaching. It wasn't a huge shock for us to be in a leadership position and, more importantly, it wasn't a shock for our players. When they're listening and getting instruction from Phil, H or I, it's not like that's the first time hearing us get in their butt about something or give direction about what we're doing. The core of what we were doing was the same, it's not like Phil just abandoned what we've done at Michigan and just tried to do everything his way. He just structured practice, structured our preparation in a way that was familiar and comfortable for him to deliver the exact same information that they've been trying to do all year. Fortunately, for us, we had some success working through that model. I think it's a testament to coach Juwan, Phil, our staff and our players.

On the Frankie Collins attrition

When you look all the way back, he commits and DeVante' comes on. So, OK. You have to follow before you can lead. He had to get time with Howard Eisley. When he gets here, he's competing. For a long time, you compete against somebody. Then, when the rotation is formed, it's us competing against our first opponent. He competed. DeVante' won the job. Frankie was in the rotation. Now, you want that to grow. Had he not accepted coaching, there would've been no Tennessee game unless he does what he does in the Colorado State game. What I appreciated about that was, there was never panic. What do you mean? I get where everybody was coming from. DeVante' was going through a concussion protocol. How could we speak about that? Joel Embiid. He's been ruled out, now he might play tonight. You can't mess with that kind of stuff. Frankie was very calm and very confident. Almost cocky that, 'I got this.' And he did. His play at the end of the first half turned that game against Colorado State. Then against Tennessee, DeVante' tries it and can't get it going, health reasons. There is no Villanova game without Frankie. When the season ends, nothing in this program is given to anybody. So when the season ends and they had their individual conversations with coach, I'm sure there was discussion about moving forward. At the same time, you look at our team, you say, OK, how can we keep growing this? When a guy like Hunter says he's coming back, he's coming back for one reason. The pursuit of championships, multiple championships. Not Big Ten, Big Ten Tournament. He's talking about championships. Keep looking and say, well, where can we—not upgrade but where can we change how this team fits together? When the opportunity arises—and there were other guys along the way whose names pop up because there are no longer secrets. I do think that people wonder. His family would ask a question. Full transparency in this program, they got answers. As it moved forward with the young guy Jaelin coming, it's going to be OK, there's going to be a hard conversation. I was not involved in that conversation, Saddi was not involved in that conversation. That conversation occurred with Juwan and Frankie or Frankie's family. I'm sure that they asked questions, which, in this program, you're welcome to ask that question. One of the tenants of this staff is college basketball should be the greatest experience of these young guys' lives. Everyone wants to play at the next level, but that's not guaranteed to everybody. He wants to have a great college experience. So, straight up, eye-to-eye, what gives you the best chance to have a wonderful college experience? It's not, just as an aside, everything is alright, you've got 35 minutes. We're not accountants, we're coaches. And it truly is for competitors only. Not that he ran from competition but going and finding something that gives you the great college experience that will impact 30 years from now, that's what we hope for. We're delighted for him. There's no closing the door and throwing darts. Nope. This isn't for everybody nor is everybody for us. That's how I would put it.

On the transfer portal philosophy

Washington: I don't know if it affects the strategy, you just embrace the reality. 1,600 names, almost 1,700 names, as of yesterday, that are in the portal. 1,800 if you count Division 2 guys. I remember when I first got in, Phil, you probably did, too, 500 names in the portal was extreme. Now, we've since tripled that number. I always reflect back to when I was a player. That idea and our tagline of competitors only, it's not just a tagline. It's who we are at the core of our soul, of our DNA, of our program. Just as Phil says, I don't think Frankie was running from competition. I would argue that we're all at our best when we feel a little heat to our back. Some fire to our feet. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. I think you and I talked about this situation in particular, I was here long enough to know, man, this feels very similar to Zavier Simpson after his first year. We had Eli coming in as a freshman, X had a solid, not great, but solid freshman season. We brought Jaaron Simmons in. It worked out for us, we got to Monday night. Now, to say that would happen in this scenario? I don't know. But we've seen it before, we've been through it before. I just think that—especially for this level. Phil talked about it. At this level, this is the highest level of college basketball. If you think you could be a pro, you're going to face competition every day of your life moving forward as long as you play this game. Whether it's here or whether it's at the next destination that you go. I always say, we want what they want. At the end of the day, if you want to be at Michigan, we're going to do our job, do our best to put you in position to be in position. If you don't feel like this is the place for you any longer and you have to go somewhere else, man, we love you. Every kid that's left, I still say, I love you and it's going to work out for you and for us. You just leave it at that. Thus far, at least in my experience here, it has worked out for everybody who stayed and everybody that's gone. We wish all the young men, specifically Frankie with this most recent (departure). He's going to do great. I have no doubt that young man is going to have a great collegiate career. But Michigan is going to be alright, too.

On the approach to the portal

Martelli: I think the first thing that we would do is look at the roster. Being honest, what are some of the holes in the roster? People will say you can't do it beyond (the scholarship limits). We can. This roster, today's roster, is together for two years. It's been together for two years. You just can't react to every name that pops onto the screen and say, 'Well, that would be a good one.' It starts with basketball. Does the basketball fit? Then, the responsibility is, Michigan is not for everybody. I'm talking about Michigan. The experience of Michigan. The challenges academically, how is this going to fall out? There is a responsibility to represent the academic side of Michigan—no, no, he will be a graduate or he will be on that path to graduation. That's a big consideration. It starts, where does this fit? It's like walking into a candy store and saying, 'Man, I'll have that, and that, and that,' and then you go, 'I can't understand why I'm sick!'

On recruiting

Martelli: The same thing happens with a high school player. My eye had to be trained for Big Ten. Let's call it the way it is. If we're looking at a young guy and if we can't project that he's an All-League player, it doesn't fit. Forget a pro. Everybody—you could project and say, 'I could see him.' In this instance, forgetting the big picture of college basketball, specific to Michigan, those guys that appear on the scouting reports, the recruiting reports that are on the first page, we're going to be a presence there. It still has to fit your roster, though. It still has to fit going forward, where is this going to fit? You know what, if you can shoot it and you're out there, you can expect us knocking on your door. I think the bigger picture, those are the kids. If you're a 100-to-500 ranked high school player, this portal is hurting you and it's going to continue to hurt you because, guess what, the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's not going back. Saddi used the number 1,700. I was on a call yesterday and they think that next year, with the combination of all this confusion with NIL and transfer portal, people are believing we are going to be well over 2,500 next year.

Saddi: Without 2,500 slots to fill. That's the travesty of it all. Everybody is rushing to the portal, there's not the equivalent amount of scholarships available to catch all 1,700 kids. So what about the kids who get displaced? I look at the transfer portal more kind of like a calendar. From a strategic standpoint. From June, where you hope your roster is set for the upcoming year, to about November or December, a lot of the focus is on the high school kids. Because you've recruiting these kids, a lot of them, two years, three years aggressively. So you give those kids a window to say yes to your program. Once we get into our season and we kind of see how our roster evolve and fits, now we get a clear understanding of, OK, what we thought we needed for next year, may not be true. We might need this that we didn't even thing about. Then, you go through the season and probably start from April, May, that's when you start going, OK, if this profile of kid hits the portal, the high school that didn't commit to us back in the fall, we can get a more experienced guy here in the spring. It kind of depends on the level, too. That's where the strategic mindset comes from. There are some programs that really abandon high school recruiting altogether and just, 'We're going to plug with portal guys and see how that works.'

On whether Michigan will continue to recruit even with zero scholarships available

Washington: I know, specifically, again, being at Michigan, different mentality when I was at Oakland. You're either going to get attrition through transfer or you're going to get attrition through guys being able to go to the NBA. We have a pretty good pulse on which guys are trending from an NBA perspective. You have to account for that. Now, nobody wants to talk about it but we're talking about it on the recruiting trail. Other players are already recruiting from your program year-round. We don't know it in the moment but I've had several conversations throughout the spring and summer about different people contacting kids within their program about, 'Hit the portal!' It's the nasty world that we're in and it's not going to go away. You just kind of expect to a degree some level of attrition. That's kind of the gauge where you kind of go like, 'Are we going to have everybody?'

On how you approach a player without having a definite scholarship available

Martelli: I'm going to raise my hand and say I have no idea. I really don't. Even in conversations, we don't have anything. Guess what? If we know we don't have anything, the other school who is recruiting that kid knows we don't have anything. Word is going to get out in the quote, unquote, recruiting streets, that these dudes are just out there overpromising and underperforming. I don't know how you do it. I really don't Earlier in the conversation you brought up the idea of recruiting your team, if you're not involved in open communication with your players, not about recruiting, but if they think at the end of the year that you're going to have a conversation, it's too late because somebody has had a conversation with them. You have to continue to coach them as you have recruited them. With us, there's communication. Constant communication. If you try to do it in a rush at the end, you're going to get hurt. I think Saddi made a great point here. You need to be aware. I think it's hard at Michigan, I really do. There were rumors out there about every guy on this roster. This guy is doing that, that guy is doing this and you're like, you feel like Rocky in the movie, I can't take any more hits. When you calm it down, I have daily conversations with this young guy. That's not real. If it is real and this kid has hidden the idea, he shouldn't be in this program.