Dusty May’s Monday press conference previewing Villanova and Maryland

I think the reps and the time together has been the biggest thing. Even yesterday, I remember complimenting Morez Johnson multiple times about how he figured out a way to stay out of the action and complement the action. And the same thing with Aday Mara where, you know, it's seeing what's going on in front of you. It's reacting to the game.

And those guys are doing a good job of that. And then when the spacing's not pretty, figure out a way to re-space. But a big part of that too is Yaxel Lendeborg. Being such a willing 3-point shooter.

I think he's tripled his volume of 3s from last season. His percentage has gone up maybe 4 or 5 percentage points from last season. So that's a big part of it. And that wasn't an easy transition for Yaxel Lendeborg where you're playing like this when you're with this group and you're playing like this when you're with this group.

And so it's a testament to his intelligence that he's able to shift. And also because of his work in getting to the gym and making shots and practicing every day. Spends a lot of extra time working on it and he continues to add to his game. So I think he still has another jump to make.

I mean, once again, we try to be wise and adaptable. We took 4 portal guys last year and we love coaching all 4 of them. We feel like we are pouring into them.

We feel like they're making us better as coaches.

They fit our culture. I mean, you know, the Thunder won the NBA championship last night.

Like, I don't look down at Nimari Dagnold or Sam Presti because he didn't draft all those guys because Shea Alexander was drafted drafted by the Clippers and they traded Paul George for him, or they signed Hardenstein through free agent. I just look at us, man, they play great ball. That is a team that, that all of these young players should emulate as far as how much they care about each other, how they're able to bring it every single night no matter who's playing.

And so I would choose to look at it like that versus always trying to cut down the way everyone else is doing it. Because, you know, I look across our league, I mean, there's some really good teams. I watched Nebraska last night And I'm like, man, that's the guy that was injured from Bradley. Man, he's good.

And then the kid from Iowa transferred there. And then Hoiberg's son, I think probably has been there with him the entire time, who is fun to watch and a complete winner. So I think they're a great example of they just have guys from a little—

from everywhere that have came together and they're playing the game the right way. They're fun to watch.

They're going to compete for a championship. And so I—

I respect that way.

I respect every way that each guy does it because it's difficult now. Everyone's situation is different. Some guys aren't at a place like Michigan where people want to stay outside of basketball. It's very tough to leave. So every situation is different.

But no, we choose to do it our way. Do I look down on a guy because he took a—

you know, I don't know the coach of Santa Clara, but do I look down on him because he took a G-League guy versus a EuroLeague guy?

No. Like, not at all. We're trying to bring in great dudes who love to compete, who value what we bring and want to be a part of growing all this together.

Yeah, you know, Roddy Gayle, man, I think that the 3 guys that I think are kind of—

I don't want to say the 3 guys, I don't want to single anybody out.

Roddy Gayle is an unsung superstar for us. He does so much across the board and doesn't care about anything other than winning and being a part of something special together.

Like, he's incredibly unselfish. And with that, you have the expectations that your teammates have to be unselfish too, or you kind of lose that trust. And so Roddy Gayle, I think, has really, really bought into being a little bit of everything for this team.

He's getting to the rim, he's playmaking, he's defending at a high level.

And I think there was one game this year when he was 1-for-6 at half, and we as a staff, we rallied at halftime and said that might be the most impactful 1-for-6 of any half of basketball that we'd ever seen.

He just made so many plays, whether it was cuts, screens, loose balls, deflections, whatever the case.

He just, he's making so many plays that impact winning. And so it's been fun to see his growth because he's improved in so many areas. Maturity-wise, he, when he speaks in our locker room, everyone has their ears open because they know what's coming out is valuable. And he's been a real resource for us as a staff to kind of echo our message.

So yeah, we're really, really happy with where Roddy Gayle is now.