May Day
+ Will Hardy & Kyle Shanahan
“If you torture the data enough, nature will always confess.” — Ronald Coase
Hey Coaches,
Here you go!
✍️ Articles
Dusty May watched film with a former principal. It’s a secret to Michigan’s success: Dusty May touches on teaching, player development, and how learning actually transfers from the film room to the court. It’s a thoughtful look at why he stands out as a coach, showing how curiosity, psychological safety, and deliberate teaching shape the way his players learn and grow.
“The pace is quick, the environment forgiving, the approach by design after years of practice.”
“One secret is in creating a psychologically safe environment for players to think critically and get stuff wrong, to establish what Lemov calls a ‘culture of error’”
‘We want to pinch ourselves’: Dusty May’s full-circle return to the Final Four: Pete Thamel explains how the Michigan Wolverines have become a paragon for modern college basketball: a team filled with joyful players, a staff that’s empowered and an intuitive up-tempo system that’s a rollicking manifestation of those ideals.
“This is not a dictatorship from a staff perspective, but it's a partnership with the players, and it's our job for these guys to become the best versions of themselves that they can possibly be in their career.”
🎙️ Podcast
The Program with Woj: Will Hardy on the human side of player development, Kevin Love’s impact & front office alignment: This is one of the best podcasts I’ve listened to in a while. Will Hardy touches on building culture through daily habits, developing players as people first, and creating organizational alignment through honest communication and shared purpose. [1/28/2026 — 22 minutes] Apple | Spotify | YouTube
“We’ve actually renamed it (player development) in our building. It’s human development. We want them to be better at dribbling, passing, and shooting, believe me.”
“When they feel good about themselves and they feel good about their lives, they have a way better opportunity to be successful as basketball players.”
“We don’t always agree, but we always find a way to align.”
💭 Miscellaneous
Kyle Shanahan on getting play ideas from his assistants:
“Oh, yeah, it’s not only an open door policy, it’s expected. That’s what a lot of those guys’ jobs are. People give me a lot of credit because I call the plays and stuff, but that’s the easy part…
I always try to shoot things down and the guys that keep coming back with it and don’t have the answers, then you know how much they believe in it. And I always want people to make me believe in it so I can use it.
I always give the best example that when we move to new places after we look for houses, like the way I look at a house, I go in there and say everything that’s wrong with it. I can’t tell you how many times after my wife’s been in tears, she’s told me I’ve embarrassed myself in front of the realtors. She’s so upset and I’m like, 'what do you mean? This is the house I want. I love this house' and she’s like, 'well, you pointed out everything wrong with it'. I was like, 'I know, but they answered the good questions. They said we could fix that. They said that wasn’t as bad as I thought and I mean, do I have to say what I love about it? I’m just trying to figure out what I don’t and we’re good with that, so let’s do it'.
And it’s kind of how I look at plays, too. Like, once you go through all the things wrong with it, then we can solve those and worry about and figure out how to get around that stuff. Now, I think it’s a good play.”
Bear Stearns looked to hire people had a PSD: poor, smart, and a deep desire to become rich.
