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Alaina Getzenberg
Multiple Authors
BUFFALO, N.Y. — When 1-seed Michigan continues its men’s NCAA tournament run, the round of 32 matchup will bring Wolverines coach Dusty May up against a close friend.
May and ninth-seeded Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz, who first connected while coaching at different levels, are close enough to share practice film and playbooks, an uncommon level of trust built through years of exchanging ideas and learning from each other.
“It’s probably very unusual [to share practice footage],” May admitted during his news conference Friday. “There’s a group of us that share — and actually, he and I — we’re close enough where I don’t even call him. I’ll shoot his video guy, or he’ll shoot my video guy a text and say, ‘Can you send me last week’s workouts?’ We’re toying with this, we’re thinking about this concept. It might just spur an idea.”
A Sweet 16 appearance will be on the line when their teams meet Saturday (12:10 p.m. ET, CBS). Both teams topped 100 points in their first-round wins. Saint Louis beat Georgia 102-77, and Michigan rolled past Howard 101-80.
Because of how similarly the coaches think and prepare, May expects the game to feel like “a great chess match.”
May, in his second year with the Wolverines, returned to the court after Michigan’s win Thursday to scout his upcoming opponent and even joked with Schertz about not being up by more points at halftime. The Billikens held a 17-point lead.
“It’s always nice when you have somebody who’s in the same chair as you,” said Schertz, who is also in his second season with his program but is making his first NCAA Division I tournament appearance. “It’s hard. Sometimes being a head coach can be lonely. … [May has] been an incredible resource for me.”
Their connection dates to when Schertz coached at Division II Lincoln Memorial and May was at Florida Atlantic. May was scouting a player leaving Lincoln Memorial and noted how well-coached the team was. The relationship grew from there and includes one stretch where the two spent nearly 10 straight hours in May’s office just talking.
“I loved it when he was at a Division II, we were different levels, and I was down in Boca Raton, because this would never happen where we had to compete against each other,” May said.
But he also added that he’s not wary of going up against someone he’s so close to either.
“If we’re going to lose, I want to lose to a guy that does it at the level that he and they do it. And hopefully we don’t, but if we do, then you want to do it to somebody who you’re going to be better for it.”
