ATLANTA — Bruce Pearl has been a college basketball coach since the 1980s. That’s also the last time he saw a pairing as unique as Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, the two 7-footers playing for Michigan, Auburn’s opponent in the Sweet 16 on Friday at State Farm Arena.
Pearl said the Boston Celtics once had a similarly potent pairing of big men.
“I haven’t seen this since I watched [Kevin McHale] and [Robert Parish], right?” Pearl said Thursday. “These two guys are special. Goldin, in the Big Ten, he was the best player on the floor almost every single night.”
Pearl reserved his highest praise, however, for Wolf, a transfer from Yale who joined Goldin as an All-Big Ten second-team selection this season.
“Wolf, there is not another 7-footer in college basketball that resembles him,” Pearl said. “He’s got Larry Bird-type ballhandling, passing, feel. He’s just a gifted, gifted player. Obviously, they work beautifully together.”
Michigan, which will face the Tigers just over 100 miles from the Auburn campus on Friday, runs a significant portion of its offense through Goldin (16.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.4 BPG) and Wolf (13.0 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.4 BPG), as they play a pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop game in which they resemble guards more than the giants they are.
Goldin and Wolf have been the keys to Michigan’s Big Ten tournament championship and sixth Sweet 16 appearance since 2017.
When first-year head coach Dusty May initially pitched the idea of playing the two next to each another, the duo questioned the idea. But Goldin and Wolf quickly became one of the most difficult matchups in the country. Per EvanMiya.com, Michigan has allowed opponents to score just 86.2 points per 100 possessions when the two players have been on the floor together.
But Auburn’s top players said they’ll be ready when they face the Wolverines.
Over the summer, Johni Broome, a 6-foot-10 star, and Dylan Cardwell, a 6-foot-11 standout, were teammates in the team’s 2-on-2 competition. They went undefeated and strengthened their on-court bond.
“It’s going to be fun,” Cardwell said. “It’s going to be interesting and unique. I’m appreciative of going against two great guys, two NBA prospects, as well.”
Broome said those 2-on-2 battles during the offseason helped him develop chemistry with Cardwell, which will matter on Friday.
“You have to enjoy the moment,” Broome said. “This is the Sweet 16. We’re going up against two 7-footers. It’s going to be fun. Everybody in that locker room is looking forward to the matchup. Our front line is looking forward to the matchup.”
Two years ago, Goldin was a critical part of Florida Atlantic’s run to the Final Four. May understood his talent and knew it would translate to the Big Ten. At Yale, however, Wolf had been viewed as a talented scorer who might struggle to guard better athletes in a power conference. The film told a different story, May said. He trusted that Wolf would make the transition as seamlessly as he has thus far.
And when he asked his staffers to watch Wolf’s games before he plucked him from the portal, they agreed that Wolf could play in the Big Ten.
“As soon as we watched [Wolf], we knew we could make it work offensively,” May said on Friday. “We just had to make sure it would work defensively. To be honest, the first time I watched him, I thought he’s more physical than I imagined. I’d watched him a few times on television. You’re flipping through and Yale is playing Princeton or whatever, and they’re both well-coached, so you kind of want to take a peek at it. I thought at first glance [on film], this guy is more physical than I thought. He has better lateral quickness than I would assume of a 7-footer in the Ivy League.”
But Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed for a reason. From Dec. 4 to March 4, the Tigers lost just one game. Their size — and depth — in the paint has been one of their top strengths, as 6-foot-7 forward Chaney Johnson has also boosted their rotation.
Pearl said he’ll challenge his team to stall Goldin and Wolf on Friday. The Tigers’ effectiveness against the 7-footers will impact the final score and who advances to the Elite Eight on Sunday, he said.
“They’re going up against Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson,” Pearl said. “Those three guys are going to be the focus of our defensive attack. Our ability to defend [Goldin and Wolf] — as well as No. 42 [6-foot-8 forward Will Tschetter] off the bench, who shoots it a little bit for them — is going to be really the difference in the outcome.”
