NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL SEMIFINAL - MICHIGAN VS AUBURN

March 28, 2025

Dusty May

Vladislav Goldin

Danny Wolf

Nimari Burnett

State Farm Arena

Michigan Wolverines

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

Auburn - 78, Michigan - 65

DUSTY MAY: Congratulate Auburn and the job they did, especially in the last 8 or 10 minutes of the game. They played with an incredible amount of energy, enthusiasm, physicality, and knocked us off our spots. They were a load on the offensive glass. I think those extra possessions were the difference in the game.

I want to give our guys a lot of credit too. We really, really grew as a group. This was an awesome team to be around every single day. It hurts when you don't perform at your best for the last game and put yourself in position to win.

Overall, just very, very proud of this group.

Q. My question is for Vlad. I saw you embracing Dusty there at the end. Can you just kind of reflect on your journey a little bit, coming here with Michigan, having been developed at FAU with Dusty, and how that's been for you overall?

VLADISLAV GOLDIN: It's been great. I love all of my my decision that I came in and decided to play for this man. Obviously I can see I got better player than I were before. Probably more important for me is the emotions I got, the relationships I built. I wouldn't change a thing.

Q. Vlad, what did kind of the Auburn frontcourt do defensively to kind of fluster you today?

VLADISLAV GOLDIN: I mean, they played physical defense. The shots didn't fall in. Sometimes it happens. It feels even worse that it happened in this kind of game, but it is what it is.

Q. Danny, in the closing stages, Auburn seemed to have maybe figure out something that they didn't know throughout the whole last game last year and then the first half this year. But looking back on your overall performance tonight, what do you think others may have learned about your overall game that we may not have known coming into tonight?

DANNY WOLF: You're asking -- I'm a little confused. Sorry.

Q. Just something you think you showed everyone.

DANNY WOLF: That's the last thing on my mind. I had no intention of showing anyone what type of player I was. Yeah, all I really cared about was getting a win, and we weren't able to do it, credit to Auburn.

Yeah, I had no intention of really showing anyone what type of game I played. That was the last thing on my mind.

Q. Vlad and Danny, there were a lot of people who had something to say about playing two centers at the start of this season, and I know it's hard to look at right now, but in the grand scheme of this season, what can you say about playing together as a duo, proving a lot of people wrong, and the trust that Coach May put in you guys to run that lineup?

VLADISLAV GOLDIN: I loved every single minute I played with Danny. He's obviously a great player. It's been fun. We did something that not many people do, and we did something that me personally, I haven't done before. I think I learned a lot playing by the side with him.

DANNY WOLF: Yeah, playing at Michigan this year was the greatest honor of my lifetime. When Coach May and his staff kind of gave me the opportunity to come here and laid out a plan for Vlad and I, I questioned it at first, but they put so much trust in the two of us, and our teammates make us look way better than we are.

Q. Danny, this game almost felt like an Auburn home game. With that crowd overwhelming on their side, it seemed like you guys, it didn't fluster you. Did you guys feed off that, or what was that atmosphere like to play in?

DANNY WOLF: Yeah, they were the Number 1 overall seed, I don't know how it works with locations, but yeah, I mean, before tip, it seemed like a true road game. I don't think it really fazed any of us.

Obviously in the second half, mid to late second half, when they hit a few shots, and the place erupted. That's a huge momentum swing, especially when you have the crowd into it. But I thought we kind of pushed past that noise early on.

Credit to Auburn, they hit some big shots late, but it's March Madness and we're two hours away from their facility. They had a great supporting cast from their fans and credit to them, but I don't really think it fazed us too much.

Q. Nimari, you were a member of this program when it was 8-24 last year. Curious if you can reflect on being one of the few to stick with this team throughout the coaching transition and how you want this year to be remembered.

NIMARI BURNETT: Coming off of last year, Coach Dusty came in, like the guys said, with a plan to win and to get a group of guys together that were fit to win and eventually become brothers, and that's exactly what we did.

Coming off a tough year last year, especially the returners, me, Will, Jace, et cetera, the plan was to write the story and represent the Black M in the right way. This season was amazing. Not only did we build brothers and brotherhood, but we're going to talk about this for the rest of our lives. It's something we're all going to remember.

I'm grateful to be a part of this group, and I'm grateful to be a part of the University of Michigan as a whole.

Q. A bit of a follow-up for Danny. I know you grew up a big Michigan fan, and when you had the opportunity to come in and play for Coach May, you didn't think twice about it, but how do you want to be remembered as a Michigan basketball player?

DANNY WOLF: First of all, when I left Yale, I didn't know what my basketball future held. I knew I wanted to be at this level. Obviously in the back of my mind I'd grown up a big Michigan fan and sported a ton of Michigan clothes. After their Final Fours, all I wanted for my birthday was signed basketballs.

I have so much respect and gratitude for my coaches for allowing me to come here. It was arguably the greatest year of my life, and I made so many amazing relationships. I met my brothers for life, and we had an unbelievable locker room. We stuck with each other through the ups and downs.

It sucks to see it cut short, but yeah, this last year has been the greatest in my life. I have to thank the coaches and my teammates for that.

Q. Dusty, tough loss tonight. You've changed Michigan for the better, eight wins last year, Sweet 16 now. What's the journey been like for you getting this team to where they are now and going forward into the future, what's that look like for you?

DUSTY MAY: That's the toughest part. You think back to June or whatever date it was when we had the full group here and what they looked like then and where you were at that point, it didn't look anything like it does now.

Just to see these guys, you're bringing so many new guys, you have some other guys still in the program, you don't know how their personalities are going to mesh, their skill sets. Just for these guys to want to be better every single day, to be open to change, to love each other, to get off the mat when you get knocked down, just proud of the group.

A lot of fun. Obviously we had a blast, and we did some things that we'll have forever. We'll have a banner and whatnot.

Man, when I think back to the first Michigan team I was a part of, these guys, they left a legacy. They've helped us establish an identity, and they should be very, very proud of their body of work.

Q. Nimari, you guys may not be part of it, but what is the future like for the Michigan program now under Dusty now that you guys have come so far, but what do you think you guys, the program is headed next year and beyond?

NIMARI BURNETT: This is an absolutely beautiful future ahead of us, especially the type of guys that Dusty recruits, the type of guy that Dusty is, and the type of coach that he is, his schemes, his game plans, offensively, defensively.

He keeps really, really good people around him as well, and I think that's just a brand for a beautiful future ahead and representing Michigan the right way going forward.

Q. Coach May, that frontcourt duo that you brought together this off-season, what can you say now reflecting on the season that they had as a duo about your image for them when you brought them in, what you sold them on, and how it played out and maybe how they reached those expectations or exceeded them along the way?

DUSTY MAY: Well, number one, I credit them. They bought into a vision, and sometimes it's hard to buy into something that's not seen, that you can't see. Also, they worked. They wanted to figure out solutions. They wanted to figure out the best way to do it, and it starts with just getting really quality people that are good at basketball and then figure out a way to make it work.

Now my mind shifts to next season immediately. What's it going to look like? How do we replicate the best of this season? And how do we fix some things? We're still playing for another few weeks.

Yeah, those guys, they became a national story because of the unique skill sets, how well they worked together. But also, the other three guys on the court didn't get as much credit as they deserve because they were the ones spacing, cutting, feeding the ball, whatever the case.

Yeah, it was unique for us for those guys to get some really quality attention and press and give us another kind of, I guess, subculture or identity going forward.

THE MODERATOR: That's all the time we have. Thank you very much.