Just a few days before Oakland and Michigan basketball clash at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, Oct. 20, the programs’ respective head coaches met on a Zoom call to answer questions from the media.

Head coach Greg Kampe of Oakland and new head coach Dusty May from the University of Michigan fielded questions from many reporters, from Big Ten Network announcers Matt Shepherd and Rapheal Davis to local college reporters.

Both coaches seemed very excited to play each other, especially at Little Caesars Arena. Kampe and May worked hard to make the event happen to benefit Forgotten Harvest, a non-profit food rescue organization.

“I’m just really pleased that Dusty decided to play the game. We had a conversation when he got the job,” Kampe said. My thing was that, this will be the first time that Michigan fans get to see his team play, and why not do it in the Mecca of basketball in the Detroit area?”

May echoed that sentiment, saying, “From our point of view, we are excited to see our team play. They [Oakland] play a different style, which will prepare us for Big Ten play, some of the teams in the league to play zone.”

That unique Oakland style was something that May was eager to see in the exhibition game.

“When we’ve played exhibitions, we’ve always tried to play teams that are a little bit different than everyone else,” May said. “We thought the zone, obviously, they do a great job of getting you out of rhythm.”

Reflecting on the roster for this upcoming season, Kampe made it known he was surprised by the Horizon League preseason poll.

“We’ve had a first-team all-league player for 18 consecutive years. Our all-league preseason team came out the other day and we didn’t have one on the first team, and I was a little surprised DQ [Cole] wasn’t on the first team. I think he is an all-league-level player.”

Kampe also pointed out that Allen Mukeba, Buru Naivalurua and Jayson Woodrich could be all-league players.

A significant point of attention was the type of team that May built in his first year at the helm at Michigan. May mentioned how close the team has already gotten.

“They’ve been very intentional with each other as far as developing relationships, as far as how to communicate with each other, and also just earning each other’s trust and by being reliable, by being dependable,” May said.

May emphasized that this focus on relationship-building extends beyond the court and influences their team-building strategy.

“And so we have to recruit players that want to be students at Michigan, that want to represent this place and fall in line with the culture here,” May said. “And so as far as us as a staff, we need to be around guys that are high achievers. They want to be the best they can be. They want to achieve greatness, and they want to chase that every single day on the court, in the classroom.”

Additionally, Kampe reflected on how he has changed as a coach and how the game has changed. Remarkably, this season marks Kampe’s 41st season as Oakland’s head coach.

“The advent of the transfer portal, the advent of the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), has completely shifted college basketball and college athletics in a greater, seismic shift than anything that’s ever happened in my 47 years in college basketball,” Kampe said. “I’d like to think I was, you know, a Sparky Anderson, my way or the highway guy 25 years ago, and now I’m probably more laid back.”

Interestingly, former Michigan coach John Beilein has influenced May early on in his tenure.

“I was always a Coach Beilein fan even before I knew him. I followed his teams. I studied the way he did things offensively, defensively, his tactics, and then just seeing how invested he is in Michigan and how much this program means to him. And he’s been a great resource, whether it’s learning new things or just reaffirming what we already thought,” May said.

Near the end of the call, the conversation touched on whether Michigan and Oakland can develop the type of relationship that Michigan State and Oakland have, where the two teams play each other yearly. Both coaches seemed enthusiastic about it.

“We’ve talked about it… those conversations will be had… I think both Dusty and I agree that this makes sense and would be a cool thing to do,” Kampe said.