Dusty May coaching career: New Michigan HC's coaching history explored
Dusty May is taking over as the head coach for the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.
Relatively new to the coaching ranks, May has been a head coach since 2018 but has been in various assistant roles for 13 years.
Take a look at the complete coaching history of the new Michigan head coach.
What is Dusty May's coaching history?
Dusty May began his coaching career as a student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana from 1996 to 2000. From there, he held video and administrative roles for Indy and USC before landing his first big-time role.
As an assistant to Rob Murphy at Eastern Michigan, he was a member of their coaching carousel for the 2005-06 season, finishing with an 18-15 record. From there, he moved on to Murray State for the 2006-07 season, under new head coach Bill Kennedy, where they finished with a 16-14 record and the 2nd seed in the Conference.
His next stop came at UAB, where he was reunited with Mike Davis from his Indiana days. In his two seasons with the team, they finished with a 23-11 and 22-12 record respectively. Finishing with the 2nd and 3rd seed in the Conference USA, they received bids to the NIT, getting eliminated in the second and first rounds respectively.
With Louisiana Tech in 2009, Dusty May found his first long-stint as an assistant head coach. While his initial two years under Kery Rupp saw the team struggle to 24-11 and 12-20 records, the introduction of Michael White changed the trajectory of the team.
After a 5th-placed finish in his first season, his second and the team's final year in the Western Athletic Conference saw them win the Conference regular season with a 27-7 record. As the team moved to the Conference USA, Michael White, and Dusty May led them to three straight top-seed finishes, with their bid to the NIT going as far as the quarterfinals in those 3 seasons.
Moving on from Lousiana Tech, White and May took on head coaching and assistant roles, with the Florida Gators. His first season saw the team finish with a 21-15 record and a berth to the quarterfinals of the NIT.
In their second year, the team went 24-7, was 2nd in the SEC, and earned a #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the first NCAA bid of Dusty's career. They reached the Elite Eight thanks to a buzzer-beater in the Sweet Sixteen but a heated matchup against Conference rivals South Carolina saw their season come to a close.
The next season, a return to the NCAA Tournament, this time as a 6th seed, saw them win their Round of 64 matchup, but fall against Texas Tech in the Round of 32, in May's final game as an assistant.
Taking over the head coaching job for the Florida Atlantic Owls from Michael Curry, he remained in the position for 6 seasons, including their transition to the American Athletic Conference from Conference USA in 2023-24.
His record at Florida Atlantic got progressively better in each of his first four seasons, as they went from 17-16 to 17-15, to 13-10 and 19-15, taking a jump from the 9th seed to the 2nd seed.
His best season with Florida Atlantic came in 2022-23 when he led the team to a 35-4 record to a 1st seed in the Conference. Wins over Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and UAB earned him a Conference title with a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In the first round, the team defeated Memphis in an instant classic at 66-65 to earn its first NCAA win in program history. From there, their Cinderella run began that saw them take out Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, as well as Kansas State, en route to a berth in the Final Four.
The Florida Atlantic team became the first team in over 15 years to reach the Final Four in their first season earning an NCAA win. Another classic, this time against San Diego State, saw them come out on the losing end with a score of 71-72.
Their performance earned them a bid in the AAC, where Dusty May once again proved his credentials, finishing with a 25-9 record and the 2nd seed, earning back-to-back postseason berths. Their run was short-lived as they were upset by Northwestern University in a 65-77 overtime defeat in the First Round itself.
After the season, May was named the head coach for the Michigan Wolverines, as he joined the team on a five-year contract, earning $3.75 million annually on average.
How has Michigan fared before Dusty May's arrival?
The Juwan Howard era officially came to an end in Michigan after back-to-back years without an NCAA berth. In his second year, Howard led the Wolverines to an NCAA bid after finishing as the regular season champions in the Big Ten, their run at March Madness ended in the Elite Eight.
The next season, they were right back in the thick of things. Despite a subpar record, the team finished with an NCAA berth, going all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. After another mediocre regular season, they missed out on an NCAA berth as the No. 5 seed.
Juwan's final season, in 2023-24, was the worst of his tenure, as the team finished with an 8-24 record, earning the No. 14 seed in the Big 10. As Dusty May comes in with some impressive season at Florida Atlantic behind him, can he lead the Michigan Wolverines back to the promised land? Let us know in the comments below.