4 hours Ago
ANN ARBOR — In what will be a homecoming for several players and coaches, Michigan visits Florida for the Fort Myers Tip-Off shooting for the first trophy of the Dusty May era. The Wolverines open against Virginia Tech on Monday night (6 p.m.
ET, FS1). South Carolina and Xavier are on the other side of the bracket, with each team playing a second game on Wednesday. Asked about the importance of playing in a tournament setting this time of year, May said every game is meaningful for NCAA Tournament consideration.
Playing two games in three days, with the second against a to-be-determined opponent, is also useful. “These quick turns are great to gauge the preparation you have up to this point, how quickly your guys can change a game plan and adjust on fly,” May said. “We’re all excited to see what else we can learn about our team.
” In the expanded Big Ten, there are only three league opponents Michigan will face twice in the regular season. So this week’s setting will be beneficial for the Big Ten Tournament and, hopefully, beyond. As sophomore forward Sam Walters said, “We get a crack at what it’s going to be like in March.
” Michigan opens against a Virginia Tech team picked to finish 14th in the 18-team ACC. The Hokies started 3-0 with home wins over Delaware State, USC Upstate, and Winthrop, before losing by 22 to Penn State in Baltimore and by 10 at home to Jacksonville. Virginia Tech also dismissed a player, a transfer from Temple, amid an investigation into point shaving.
Things aren’t going well for the Hokies. South Carolina (3-2) hasn’t looked so hot either, with a loss to North Florida to open the season. Xavier, at 5-0, is the more likely championship opponent for Michigan.
Sean Miller’s squad hasn’t left home yet but does own a 15-point win over Wake Forest, a team that beat Michigan earlier this season. It’s not the sexiest or most competitive field, but it should be a good barometer for Michigan after a week of games against mid- and low-major competition. It’s also a good chance for 7-foot-1 center Vladislav Goldin to get right.
As May acknowledged after Thursday’s game, Goldin has missed a lot of shots he normally makes . It hasn’t been an issue in practice, apparently. Junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr.
said he’s never had a teammate with bigger hands. “In practice if you see his hand, just throw it there and he will literally palm it and then just turn around and dunk,” Gayle said. Catching the ball hasn’t been a problem for Goldin; finishing has.
We’ll see if a change of scenery gets him going. The trip to the Sunshine State will be a homecoming for Florida natives L.J.
Cason, Tre Donaldson, Jace Howard, Sam Walters, and Charlie May, the son of Michigan’s head coach. Dusty May came to Ann Arbor from Florida Atlantic — 140 miles from Fort Myers on the other side of the state — and brought several staffers with him. Walters is excited to escape the start of Ann Arbor’s winter.
He woke up to snow on the ground last week, the first time he’d ever seen it out the window of his current residence. Walters grew up in Orlando and attended high school in Wildwood, a town just outside of The Villages retirement community. He’s expecting his grandparents and several others from that community to make the three-hour drive south to Suncoast Arena, on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College, for Michigan’s games.
Kim Barnes Arico’s team will play in the women’s version of the event, opening on Friday against Belmont (2 p.m.) and playing either Virginia Tech or Davidson on Saturday.
After a close loss to open the season against No. 1 South Carolina, the Wolverines are 5-1 with an average margin of victory of 47 points. They beat Long Beach State on Sunday 111-56 .
Belmont is 2-3 with the losses coming against teams ranked in the top 15. Virginia Tech is 5-1, with a win over Rutgers and a loss to Iowa. Davidson is 3-3 with no impressive wins to date.
.
