Michigan-Saint Louis shaped by Dusty May, Josh Schertz friendship

BUFFALO, N.Y. – As top-seeded Michigan continues its run through the men’s NCAA tournament, the Round of 32 will pit Wolverines coach Dusty May 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 films and playbooks, a rare level of trust built over years of exchanging ideas and learning from each other.

“It’s probably very unusual [to share practice footage]”, May admitted during his press conference on Friday. “We’re a shareable group – and in fact, him and I – we’re close enough that I don’t even call him. I’ll film his video guy, or he’ll text my video guy and say, “Can you send me last week’s workouts?” We play with that, we think about this concept. It might just spark an idea. »

A Sweet 16 appearance will be on the line when their teams meet Saturday (12:10 p.m. ET, CBS). Both teams surpassed 100 points in their first round victories. Saint Louis beat Georgia 102-77 and Michigan beat Howard 101-80.

Because of how the coaches think and prepare similarly, May expects the game to be like “a big chess match.”

May, in his second year with the Wolverines, returned to the court after Michigan’s win Thursday to scout his next opponent and even joked with Schertz that he didn’t have a more points lead at halftime. The Billikens held a 17-point lead.

“It’s always nice to have someone in the same seat 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 difficult. Sometimes being a head coach can be lonely. [May has] has been an incredible resource for me. »

Their connection dates to when Schertz was coaching at Division II Lincoln Memorial and May was at Florida Atlantic. May was looking for a player leaving Lincoln Memorial and noted how well coached the team was. The relationship grew from there and included a period in which the two men spent nearly 10 straight hours in May’s office talking.

“I loved when he was in Division II, we were at different levels and I was in Boca Raton, because it was never going to get to where we had to play each other,” May said.

But he also added that he’s also not afraid to confront someone he’s so close to.

“If we’re going to lose, I want to lose to a guy who’s doing it at the level where he and they are doing it. And I hope we don’t, but if we do, then you want to do it to someone who’s going to make you better.”