Indiana basketball coaching search profile: Dusty May

Mike Woodson will step down as IU basketball coach after the 2024-25 season. Athletic director Scott Dolson is currently searching for the program’s 31st head coach.

Inside the Hall will examine many of the candidates being discussed for the job over the coming days and weeks. Our first profile takes a look at Michigan coach, Dusty May.

Dusty May grinded his way through the coaching profession and has a chance to win the Big Ten title in his first season at Michigan. His ties to the IU program and success as a program builder have him prominently placed on the list of prospective candidates for the open position in Bloomington.

May, 48, attended Eastern Greene High School and was a student manager at IU from 1996 through 2000 under Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight.

After graduating from IU, May served in administrative and video roles at IU and USC before landing his first assistant coaching job at Eastern Michigan University in the 2005-06 season.

May was an assistant coach from 2005 through 2018 with tops at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida before landing his first head coaching job at Florida Atlantic in 2018.

In his first four seasons in Boca Raton, May compiled a 66-56 record, including a trip to the CIT in 2018-19 and a CBI appearance in 2021-22. At an FAU program with little history and just one previous NCAA tournament appearance, it was clear May had the program on a trajectory to reach March Madness in his fifth season.

But nobody could have predicted what May would accomplish in the 2022-23 season. May led the Owls to a 35-4 record, a top 20 ranking by season’s end in KenPom and a Final Four appearance.

On the way to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed, May guided the Owls past Memphis in the opening round before knocking off Cinderella Farleigh Dickinson to reach the Sweet Sixteen. A week later in the Regional semifinal at Madison Square Garden, May led FAU to a 62-55 win against Tennessee and a 79-76 triumph against Kansas State to reach the Final Four in Houston. FAU’s run was stopped in the national semifinal as Lamont Butler hit a buzzer-beater to propel San Diego State past the Owls, 72-71.

Proving that his program wasn’t a one-year wonder, May returned to FAU for the 2023-24 season and, after winning 25 games, returned to the NCAA tournament. Florida Atlantic earned a No. 8 seed but fell to Northwestern.

At the conclusion of his sixth season at FAU, May accepted the open position at the University of Michigan, replacing Juwan Howard. The University of Louisville also reportedly pursued him heavily.

His first season at the high-major level has been full of success. Ahead of a weekend matchup against Michigan State at the Crisler Center, the Wolverines are alone in first place in the Big Ten standings.

With a middle-of-the-pack NIL budget in the Big Ten, May assembled a talented roster from the portal that appears to be built for NCAA tournament success. The Wolverines have a dominant frontline with Vlad Goldin (FAU) and Danny Wolf (Yale) to go along with a talented backcourt featuring point guard Tre Donaldson (Auburn). May also successfully integrated a pair of holdovers from the Howard era in Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter and brought in Roddy Gayle Jr. (Ohio State) and Rubin Jones (North Texas).

Ranked in the top 22 in KenPom in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, the Wolverines plan an aggressive up-tempo style offensively. They are also one of the nation’s best defensive teams in the halfcourt. Michigan opponents are shooting just 46.8 percent on 2s this season.

In the aftermath of Michigan’s win against Indiana earlier this month at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, May reiterated that his focus is on coaching in Ann Arbor but did not dismiss any interest in returning to his alma mater. Reports have surfaced that Michigan is working to extend May’s contract to keep him long-term. His current contract calls for a buyout of $6.5 million if he were to leave Michigan this offseason, a high number but not as prohibitive as some of the other coaches we’ll profile in the days and weeks ahead.

Until May dispels any speculation about the IU job or inks a new deal with Michigan, expect to hear his name in conversations about the position.

Category: Coaching search

Filed to: Dusty May