Michigan HC Doubles Down on Spartan Tradition Comments

Despite it being May's first year as a Big Ten head coach, it might be beneficial to understand the in-state rivalry just a bit better so that situations like this do not arise.

May also gave his reasoning as to why his players were standing in the center of the Spartan logo after hovering outside the three-point line on every other free throw attempt to that point of the game.

"As far as what happened after that, from my perspective, I'm standing on the sideline and keep in mind, Coen Carr had just gotten a layup, couple minutes before, on the last free throw," May said.

" ... He [Carr] sprints past us, they advance it, and so we had talked about being more alert on free throws."

So, as May put it, the coaching point was to have two guards stand side-by-side in the center of the logo to make sure the Spartans did not run and gun for another basket when they were already trailing by 19 with 40 seconds remaining.

He further broke down his perspective of the half-court scuffle.

"I think it's [Justin] Pippen's at the line, LJ [Cason] and Phat [Brooks] are half court. I think Frankie Fiddler comes out of the game, kisses the floor, hugs his teammates," May said.

" ... I think maybe they're subbing in for another senior at that point, and our guys, Phat and LJ, are standing at the exact spot they were when Fiddler kissed the floor, not doing anything other than just standing there, and then, out of the blue, they're still standing at half court, and the Michigan State player [Tre Holloman] comes up and two-hand shoves them in the chest.

"Now, the Spartan logo is about a third of the court, the game is going on, I didn't know that this happened during the game ... I don't know what we were supposed to do in that situation. I know that we had two freshmen standing at half court, and they're respectful, great dudes, and obviously, like I said, this was not the first person that came out to kiss the floor.

"We'd already agreed to the officials and whatnot, so that's my perspective on it."

The Wolverines first-year head coach must have missed the part when Spartan senior Jaden Akins and junior Tre Holloman were seen signaling to both Wolverines to remove themselves from the middle of the logo to allow the senior tradition to take place without interference.

Maybe the Spartans were waiting for the two Wolverines to move as Fidler was kissing the floor and continued to stand in the same spot. Holloman's patience grew thin after requesting them to move and made the choice any prideful Spartan would: To protect the Spartan brand and senior tradition.

May's players ignored the request to move, prompting Holloman to physically remove them from the spot. It is tough to argue that Holloman's action was truly "out of the blue," as May put it.

When May mentions the Spartan logo as "a third of the court," Michigan's home floor at Crisler Arena has a navy blue, block "M" that is the exact same size as the Spartan green helmet. It is not certain why the size of the logo matters if May's players decided to position themselves in the center of it.

One thing is certain: the rivalry is back in full force between the two programs, but it has not been as competitive over the past few years as the Spartans have won five of the last six meetings. Hopefully, for Michigan, there will be a third matchup this season in the Big Ten Tournament, this weekend.