Auburn basketball: What Michigan's Dusty May, Tre Donaldson said before Sweet 16 face-off

ATLANTA After toppling 9-seed Creighton and 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner in last week's NCAA Tournament second round, Auburn basketball is seeing opposing big men multiply.The top-seeded Tigers will face 5-seed Michigan on Friday (8:39 p.m.

CT, CBS), putting their double-big lineup of 6-foot-10 Johni Broome and 6-foot-11 Dylan Cardwell against the Wolverines' double-big bunch 7-foot-1 Vladislav Goldin and 7-foot Danny Wolf.

But there's more to this matchup than feet and inches.Former Auburn guard Tre Donaldson will face off against his former team.

Wolf, who played for Yale last season, is also familiar with the Tigers, bouncing them from the opening round of last season's NCAA Tournament.Here's everything Michigan coach Dusty May and Donaldson said ahead of Friday's contest.What Dusty May, Tre Donaldson said about Michigan guard's time with Auburn basketballMay didn't refute the question, but he certainly shot it down when a reporter said Donaldson had been coy about his time on the Plains."The player that Tre shared minutes with last year (Aden Holloway) is playing for Alabama right now," May said.

"From my understanding, he's very appreciative of his Auburn experience.

They won.

It's got him to where he is now as a person.

So, no, he's never been negative at all about BP, (Bruce Pearl) or his teammates, or anyone."Donaldson said a bit less at the podium, adding: "The opportunity is a blessing, and I'm looking forward to it."Does Donaldson's familiarity with Auburn, or Wolf's, give the Wolverines an added advantage? Both indicated they've tried to help, but May put it into perspective."If we could beat the Hawks 1 out of 100 times, it doesn't mean I know how to beat Quin Snyder and the Hawks," May said.

"At the end of the day, it still comes down to execution.

I'm not sure any of us know how to beat Auburn other than play really, really good, sound, poised basketball for about 80 possessions, hopefully."Why Dusty May wanted Auburn basketball's Johni Broome to be an FAU OwlDuring May's six seasons at FAU, he spent one recruiting cycle "aggressively" giving Broome his pitch."We begged him (Broome) to wait until the spring, but he wanted to go and get it over with, so he committed to Morehead State," May said.

FAU went 32-25 during Broome's two seasons at Morehead State.

But the Owls went 35-4 and made the Final Four in his first season with Auburn."I can't imagine if he was on our FAU team as well," May said.

"He's a good basketball player.

He's always been a guy that's just produced.

He's been effective.

Even before everyone knew who he was, he was getting double-doubles every night against high-level players."Dusty May hasn't coached against Auburn basketball's Bruce Pearl.

That doesn't mean they aren't familiar with each otherNo, Dusty May and Bruce Pearl have never coached against each other.

But to hear May tell it, you'd think the families are close friends."I was sitting out as a Division II player at Oakland City," May said of the Pearl on Thursday.

"We played in USI's (Southern Indiana) tournament when Coach Pearl had the Screaming Eagles at the top of college basketball.

...

I'm very familiar with the program he built there." May also said Pearl's late father, Bernie Pearl, was a regular at a coach's luncheon he did when he first took the FAU job.

He also said he and Steven Pearl have often crossed paths on the recruiting trail."There's a few degrees of separation with Coach Pearl," May said.

"Couldn't have more respect for the way he's been able to sustain winning, build programs wherever he's been, and been at the top of college basketball."Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser.

He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What Michigan's Dusty May, Tre Donaldson said about Auburn basketball.

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