ATLANTA — Asked about his counterpart in Friday’s NCAA Tournament matchup, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl opened with a rhetorical question.
“How good of a hire was Dusty May for Michigan? How good of a hire was that?”
The answer is obvious. Michigan, 8-24 last season, is one of 16 teams still standing. The Wolverines, a 5 seed, will take on No. 1 overall seed Auburn at State Farm Arena on Friday (9:39 p.m. ET, CBS).
Pearl has some history with May. Pearl’s first head-coaching job was at then-Division II Southern Indiana, where he worked from 1992 until moving up to D-I in 2001. He had many battles with Oakland City University, [where May played for part of his freshman year](https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2024/06/consumed-restoring-michigan-basketball-the-new-obsession-of-dusty-may.html).
When May was at Florida Atlantic, he’d have breakfast with Pearl’s dad, a former coach, and talk hoops. Both Pearl and May have employed KT Harrell, a star player on Pearl’s first Auburn team and Michigan’s current director of operations. May was an assistant at Florida when Pearl joined the SEC as Tennessee’s head coach.
“Couldn’t have more respect for the way he’s been able to sustain winning, build programs wherever he’s been, and been at the top of college basketball,” May said.
Pearl appreciates what May has one in his first season at Michigan.
“Michigan is as good as anybody in this field,” Pearl said on Thursday. Auburn beat a talented Creighton team in the second round last weekend. Pearl’s thinking: If the Tigers can do that _and_ get past Michigan, there’s no reason they can’t keep going and win it all.
Pearl shook his head and smiled when asked about Michigan’s starting frontcourt of Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin.
“I haven’t seen this since I watched (Kevin) McHale and (Robert) Parish,” Pearl said, referencing the former Boston Celtics duo. “These two guys are special.
“Goldin, in the Big Ten, he was the best player on the floor almost every single night. And Wolf, there’s not another 7-footer in college basketball that resembles him. He’s got Larry Bird-type ball handling, passing, feel. He’s just a gifted, gifted player.
“Obviously they work beautifully together.”
Goldin, a 7-foot1, 250-pounder was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. He’s leading Michigan with 16.8 points and adding seven rebounds per game. Wolf, a second-team choice, is a guard in a 7-foot, 250-pound body. He’s at 13 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
Both played really well in Michigan’s first two NCAA Tournament wins over UC San Diego and Texas A&M last week in Denver.
Auburn has a pretty good frontcourt of its own, and Pearl didn’t forget to mention Naismith player of the year finalist Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell, and Chaney Johnson. “Those three guys are going to be the focus of our defensive attack. Our ability to defend (Wolf and Goldin) as well as (Will Tschetter) is going to be really the difference in the outcome.”
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