When Dusty May left FAU to come to Ann Arbor to become the new Michigan basketball head coach, he knew he would have to rebuild a roster. There were just three Wolverines from the Juwan Howard regime who came back to play under May: Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter, and Jace Howard. May said during his introductory press conference that he wanted to build a competitive roster and that’s exactly what he did.
One of the players he went out and grabbed was Auburn point guard, Tre Donaldson. Donaldson played two years with the Tigers before entering the transfer portal. The 6-foot-3 point guard averaged 6.7 points, 3.2 assists, 2.4 rebounds, in 19.2 minutes per game for the Tigers.
Recently, Donaldson was on the Defend The Block podcast and he was asked to describe his game for Michigan fans. Donaldson didn’t mince any words when describing what he is going to bring to Ann Arbor.
“Exciting,” stated Donaldson. “Fast, exciting, a lot of shot-making. I’m bringing the south to Michigan. A swagger. It’s just a different swagger I have about myself. I can be myself again. And y’all see that I’m very entertaining, very fun. But I’m here to take over Ann Arbor.”
Like most D-1 college basketball players, they have an aspiration to get to the NBA. While the NBA has turned into a shooting, scoring league — defense is still part of the game. Donaldson firmly believes being able to play defense and being able to pay attention to the little details is what’s going to potentially take him to the next level. Plus, the Florida native says his speed is really going to stand out.
“I play with a lot of energy,” said Donaldson. “Defense is a big thing that the next level looks at. Being able to key in on defense. Offensively, everybody playing Power Five basketball can do something with the basketball offensively. But the guys that pay attention to defense, little things like that, they tend to stand out. And like I told you, I’m bringing the south to Ann Arbor. Bringing that toughness, the speed of the south and stuff like that up here is a big difference.”
Donaldson wasn’t just done talking about what he wants to do on the defensive end of the court. In fact, the junior has a big vision of what it’s going to look like this year. You won’t see many point guards winning a major award like Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, but that’s what Donaldson’s expectations are for himself in 2024-25 as a Michigan Wolverine. He plans on leading and being a winner while he’s in Ann Arbor.
“Tre Donaldson is going to be the best defender on the floor,” said Donaldson referring to himself. “I mean, we got big Vlad [Goldin] and stuff like that, but I’m going to guard, and I feel like that’s a big jump that I’ve made. And I feel I’m trying to win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a guard, which is tough. I feel like I’ve grown defensively a lot. Me just being able to continue to make shots and make the right reads on time and on target. And then continue to lead and be a winner that I am.”
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