ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Dusty May developed a reputation as something of an offensive guru in recent years while building Florida Atlantic into a mid-major power in college basketball.

And if his first month on the job at Michigan is any indication, that reputation still carries some weight. Because May and his new coaching staff went 8 for 8 in landing recruiting targets who made official visits to Ann Arbor this spring, both in the transfer portal and with high school prospects.

At his introductory press conference, Michigan's new head coach talked openly about wanting to field a competitive team in Year 1, and putting a product on the floor that he could “sell going forward” to fans and recruits alike. Now, after a six-week whirlwind that saw May assemble his staff, reinvigorate donors and the program's NIL plans, and build out a roster that features a half-dozen transfers and three incoming freshmen — two of them new recruits — he sounds ready to shoot his shot again.

“I’m probably more confident in saying that now than I was then: We expect to win,” May said Tuesday at Crisler Center, where he met with the media for more than 30 minutes to talk about his roster and the challenges ahead. “There won't be a night that we walk on the court this season where we say, ‘Hey, we need to do this in preparation for later.’ We'll have expectations when we set foot on the court to win every single night or be in position to win.”

And if you can do that, May went on to say, citing one of his coaching mentors in the late Bob Knight, “then you end up winning a lot more than you lose and you put yourself in position to win championships.” He’s not promising one of those just yet, but by the looks of the roster May and his impressive young staff of assistants have pieced together, there is reason for optimism.

Michigan still has one open roster spot to fill, and May sounds like he expects to do so in the next couple of weeks. But already, there’s enough here to project a team capable of winning more games than it loses — far more than last year’s 8-24 disaster that cost Juwan Howard his job — and maybe enough to contend for an NCAA Tournament berth.

“We’re a very confident group,” said May, who never had a losing season in six years at FAU. “We believe in our work, we believe in our principles, our way of doing things. But we've been pleasantly surprised at how well-received this university and basketball program has been. And we've also been pleasantly surprised that the guys that joined us have. So, did I anticipate it was gonna go like this? I probably thought we would have missed on a few more guys than we have. But you know, it's speed dating, like I said in the initial press conference, and decisions are made quickly. And I do think we provided a real unique situation for a lot of these guys.”

It started with two guys, really.

One of them is a player May knows well: 7-foot-1 center Vlad Goldin, a three-year starter at FAU making the jump to Ann Arbor as a grad transfer. His game has improved steadily over the past few years, becoming one of the nation’s best post-up scorers while also flashing an impressive finishing ability in ball-screen situations.

The other lynchpin is point guard Tre Donaldson, a player who split time as the floor leader for a top-10 team at Auburn last year as a sophomore but likely will be handed the keys to run May’s offense this fall. At 6-3 and 200 pounds, May describes him as a “pass-first point guard” and a “strong physical guard who can defend,” and like all but two of U-M’s portal additions thus far, Donaldson arrives with multiple years of eligibility remaining.

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