On getting to know Dusty May and his staff
Yeah, I think it's really important and it has been for me over the last 12 years to get to know the men's basketball staff. We work so closely together. We share the facilities. We spend a lot of time together. We're here pretty much all the time. So we get to know each other and I think it's really important for our student athletes to have a great relationship as well and really support each other. You know, yesterday I saw a bunch of their guys at our stuff. We had our team at their stuff on Friday. So I think that support is important and Dusty's off to a tremendous start, but he's just a great guy. A humble, hard-working, incredible individual and so are the people on his staff. It's been fun to get to know them and it's only been a short blip so far. I'm sure, you know, through the season we'll get to know him even more, but it's fun to watch them practice, their interaction with the guys, kind of how they do things, but they're a great group. They're off to a tremendous start and I'm excited to watch what this season has in store for them.
On things normalizing heading into the season
Oh yeah, we're back in it. Things are normal. We're in the feeling how we should feel at this type of time at this point in the season and it's been great. We have 12, which is kind of a small roster, but they have been phenomenal. We have our freshman class who stayed intact and they're off to a great start. We have three transfers that are doing exceptionally well and we have the four returners.vSo there have been great vibes. I mean really positive energy. Everyone extremely coachable.vEveryone really wanting to be successful for Michigan and all hands are on deck.
On the leadership from the 'Quad Squad'
Yeah, I think both Jordan (Hobbs) and Greta (Kampschroder) have just been phenomenal on the court. I think in the offseason, the four of them each kind of had a wolf pack. We called it a group. They each had small groups that they worked together with those groups to really acclimate the transfers and acclimate our freshmen to the expectations of our program, to the academics, to life on campus. So we had those groups over the summer, but since this season has begun and since practices have begun, you know, really Jordan and Greta have taken a leadership role on the court. Crockett has a tremendous voice and she's really providing that voice every single day, but Jordan is setting the example on the court as a four-year player that has been here from the start and really shares, you know, her example as a freshman who kind of went through what our freshmen are going through right now and just her growth as a player and her maturity as a player. And I think, you know, they've both, they're different in their personalities, Greta and Jordan, but they've both done an exceptional job.
On playing three freshmen in the exhibition in Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway
Yeah, they were great. I think they were a little bit more nervous than I had anticipated. Sometimes I forget, now that I've been doing this for a minute, what it's like to be a freshman and put on that Michigan uniform for the first time and play on Criser Arena and play on our home court and play in front of our fans, play in front of their families. So I think they were a tad bit nervous, but the three of them were exceptional. I thought, you know, they each brought their strengths to our team, to the program. They played exceptionally hard. They each brought something different and I think they'll continue to improve. So it was a great debut for them, but they know they have a lot more work. I mean, you just saw Sila was in here already watching film, like, what can I do better? Where can I, I got to stop turning the ball over, which is crazy, but they're, you know, they're their own toughest critic and they really want to be great. So they are very passionate about improvement as well.
On the other younger players
Yeah, I mean, I, I was not surprised and I don't think anybody on our staff was surprised. If anyone was at practice, they knew that that was coming for sure. Obviously, Olivia Olson and Syla Swords were McDonald's All-Americans. Everyone around the country knew who they were coming in. You know, they played in all the all-star games. Syla played in the Olympics, but the rest of their class, the other three players in their class are, were highly recruited as well. And Mila Holloway for us was a little bit under the radar, but I had watched, I think it was every single one of her games that summer season prior to her coming to the University of Michigan. And I knew that she was a special point guard and that she would be able to come in and really make a difference for us. I think she's a kid too, that is going to continue to grow as a player, is going to continue to improve as a player. She's just scratching the surface, but she's from an incredible basketball family. Her brother had a really good freshman year and he's in his sophomore season at Alabama right now. He's a tremendous player. So I think she's a competitor. She has a great handle. She's a true point guard. She can run our team. She's figuring out how to find her voice on a team, you know, with seniors, on a team with all-stars, you know, where do I find my voice? But I think, you know, she's going to have a bright future in the maize and blue.
On what can be taken away from an exhibition win
Yeah. You know, we got to get better. Obviously from a coaching perspective, you know, we turned the basketball over a bunch. Some of them really unforced, some of them in areas that we can really get better. You know, we got to defend better. You know, we knew that that was, you know, a Division II opponent that's going to be significantly different than our first opening opponent against the National Championship South Carolina team. So we know, you know, we have to improve, but we need to gain that experience and we need to play and we need to have games in order to improve. The players are really all hands on deck in practice. They want to be great. They are extremely, extremely coachable. They are open-minded. They're willing to learn. They are completely bought in, but they need the games. They need the experience. They need to be in that environment because yesterday's environment, even though it was an exhibition, was completely different than the practice environment.
On how the week is structured heading into the season-opener
Yeah, I think for the staff, we're already into the South Carolina stuff. You've probably been in there for a little while. Sure, of course. But I think for the players, we need to work on us getting better and what we learned from our exhibition yesterday. So, today is a much needed day off, but as you can see, the players are popping their head in and out all day. They're getting some recovery. They're getting some treatment. Some of them want to get up extra shots, but they're resting, they're recovering, they're getting their head in the book. So, that's kind of their day off as a Michigan student athlete. But tomorrow and Wednesday will really be spent on, you know, what did we see from the exhibition? What can we get better on? What did we learn about ourselves from the exhibition? And where can we really improve? And then the rest of the week will be spent on getting to know South Carolina, watching South Carolina film. We're actually going to travel early. We travel on Saturday and have a practice on Saturday at the Aces practice facility and then on Sunday at the arena. So, we'll get, you know, two practices out west to try to get acclimated to the time change before Monday's game.
On what goes into a scout with new players
Definitely. And it was, you know, Jordan and I were standing next to each other for the anthem yesterday and I looked at her. I'm like, oh my gosh, I forgot about this, this, and this. Because we have so many new players, we have to like remember to remind them of a lot of different things that are going on. And that's why I think part of me is kind of happy that we're traveling on the earlier end so that we can really get our team acclimated to life on the road and the expectations of being on the road. And what the typical day looks like when it's not a game day and what the day looks like when it is a game day. And really being able to focus. And you know, it's great that we're going to be in Vegas. It's great that we have opportunity to travel. But really being able to focus on the game and the task at hand.
On Dawn Staley
Yeah, we kind of have come up together. I watched her as a player back in the day and my talent as a player was not nearly as much as hers. So I watched from afar. But then in terms of coaching, you know, she was at Temple when I was at St. John's. And then she went to South Carolina and I came to Michigan. And I've kind of followed her career, you know, being in Philly and New York, we were really close to each other. So we kind of followed each other's paths coming up. And then I had those two summers, an opportunity to work with her. So I knew her from afar, but I didn't really know her until those two USA basketball summers. And, you know, we got a chance to spend a month on the road and play in the World Championships in Russia together. So we spent a lot of time pretty much every day, you know, either going out for a walk or we're getting a workout in or talking basketball. So really got to know each other at another level. And she's incredible. She's one of the best coaches, obviously, in the business. But I even, I think I'm more impressed with how she has used her platform and used her voice and used her opportunity to continue to fight for change and to fight for opportunities for women, to fight for opportunities for women in this game and women in this world. And I think she's really made a difference. And she's just an incredible coach and, you know, happy. I told the story to someone yesterday, CeCe was offered by Don was watching a game with me in the summer, we were out recruiting together and CeCe was playing. And I was like, Don, that's CeCe. And she hadn't seen her since she was little. She was like, Oh, my goodness. And she got it. You know, they got on the phone the next week and she offered her scholarship to South Carolina. So CeCe was like, Whoa, mom. And I said, Don, are you really trying to make this hard for me? Because that's exactly what I wanted you to say. That's exactly what I wanted you to say. So that's kind of been cool to for CeCe to to develop that relationship with her because she was so little when I was with USA basketball. But she's one of the best in the business. And we're excited for an opportunity to test ourselves against the best.
On what stands out about South Carolina
Just their size, their toughness, their athleticism, their incredible rebounders, they reload, I mean, they have one of the best freshmen in the country, Joyce Edwards, who had a chance to watch a ton of through the AU circuit, but the players that they have returning and, and the point guards that they have returning, I think they've really improved in the last couple years on shooting the basketball, they've been a you know, they had Asia Wilson for a long time, they were inside dominant team, but now they can do both. Chloe Kitts is a kid that can score inside can score outside. I just think Sania Feagan, like they have so many weapons, they're so deep. They're so experienced. And they're just, they're physical, they're strong, they're powerful. It'll be a really great test for our team.
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