Dusty May: Michigan job was 'special to me and my family from a personal level'
After Florida Atlantic lost to Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament, the question immediately became if Dusty May would be back in Coral Gables next season. He took FAU to the Final Four a year ago and received a 10-year contract extension afterward, but his name was arguably the hottest as the coaching carousel started to spin.
May came up in connection with multiple openings. One of them – Ohio State – filled quickly when the Buckeyes removed the interim tag from Jake Diebler. That left Michigan and Louisville to vie for his services, and the Wolverines ultimately won out, hiring May to replace Juwan Howard.
Of course, May was happy at FAU, taking the Owls to NCAA Tournament success in two conferences. That’s why he wanted to keep his eye on the ball while other programs express interest. Ultimately, Michigan became a fit for not just May, but also his family.
“As soon as a job comes open, there’s typically a search firm or a middleman that reaches out and just asks your level of interest,” May said on SiriusXM College. “This year, the process was obviously that that place is dear in my heart. But we still had several games to play, our focus was on the season. There were actually several that said, the longer you play, it can have an impact. I’ve always been along the lines of whatever’s supposed to happen’s going to happen, so I said that’s fine, that’s kind of a sign anyway and I loved it where I was.
“I would’ve been perfectly happy if I was passed over for every job and I was still the coach at Florida Atlantic. But this was just one that was special to me and my family from a personal level.”
Dusty May: ‘Fit’ played role in Michigan decision
Heading to Michigan also took Dusty May back to his Big Ten roots. He worked as a manager under the late Bob Knight as a student at Indiana before embarking on a coaching career, starting at Eastern Michigan in 2005. But FAU gave May his first head coaching job in 2018, and he built the program into a contender.
Overall, May amassed a 126-70 record at Florida Atlantic, including a 61-39 conference record between Conference USA and the AAC. Now, he’s taking over a Michigan program that went just 8-24 overall and 3-17 in Big Ten play this past season under Howard – and he’ll try to turn things around like he did at FAU.
“I’m a big feel guy,” May said during his introductory press conference. “I’m a big fit guy. And from day one, this was one that I just thought would match me and allow me and those around me to have the highest level of success doing it the way that we enjoy doing it.”