Dusty 101: Competitive practices

On March 23rd, Michigan hired Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May and kicked off a new era of the basketball program. May has rebuilt the roster and re-tooled the program with an impressive coaching staff, but his first game on November 4th is still weeks away. We know the basics about May’s resume, the highlights of his FAU team’s success, and what he’s said in press conferences, but there’s still much more to uncover. 

We’ve spent the summer digging into May’s game film, press conferences, interviews, clinic videos and more to understand his basketball vision and how that applies in Ann Arbor. Over the next two months, we’ll look closer at May, his philosophy, and his track record in a series of bite-sized breakdowns that feature everything from on-court tendencies to sideline demeanor to analytics, schematics, and culture building. 

Welcome back to Dusty 101. Today, we share some notes and clips on Dusty May’s practices and some defining elements. (Previously: Offensive philosophy, Shot Selection, Defense never gets set, Giving up control, Intentional learning environment)

There are a million different ways to run a college basketball practice, and no single right way to do things. Listen to enough coaches talk about their philosophies, and you’ll have enough drills to fill an entire season of practices.

Dusty May’s practice philosophy is heavy on live competition in practice.

“We do believe you get better by playing, and the guys get more comfortable in your system the more reps they get in it,” May said in a recent interview. “So we don’t overcomplicate practice.”