Michigan to hire FAU's Dusty May as next head coach, replacing Juwan Howard
Michigan is set to hire Dusty May as its next head coach to replace Juwan Howard, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. He has spent the last six years at Florida Atlantic and helped lead the Owls to the Final Four during the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
May put himself on the map with that Final Four run, which was the culmination of his rebuild at FAU – one of the toughest jobs in the country. The Owls went 35-4, including 18-2 in their final year in Conference USA, before falling to San Diego State in a 72-71 nail-biter in Houston.
FAU followed that up with a 25-8 overall record and a 14-4 mark in its American Athletic Conference debut. The Owls were an 8-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but saw their season come to an end with a 77-65 first-round loss to Northwestern in overtime.
Overall, May amassed a 126-70 record at Florida Atlantic, including a 61-39 conference record between Conference USA and the AAC. After the Final Four run, the school gave him a lucrative 10-year contract extension.
According to the Palm Beach Post, May’s salary increased to $1.25 million per year with a 5% raise each season until 2033. The Columbus Dispatch reported his buyout dropped to $1 million on Feb. 29.
May was also considered a target at Ohio State as the Buckeyes worked to replace Chris Holtmann, who was fired on Feb. 14 and is now taking over as the head coach at DePaul. However, the Buckeyes opted to promote interim head coach Jake Diebler to the full-time job – taking a potential landing spot came off the board.
That also opened the door for Michigan to hire him after a rough year under Howard. The Wolverines went just 87-72 under his leadership but had an 8-24 record in 2023-2024 before the two sides parted ways.
A look at Dusty May’s coaching resume
Dusty May’s connection to college basketball started as a student manager at Indiana under the late Bob Knight. That set the table for a coaching career which began at Eastern Michigan, with later stints at Murray State and UAB.
Louisiana Tech then brought May aboard in 2009, and he stayed there until 2015. That’s when Florida Atlantic came calling as he joined Michael Curry’s staff. After FAU fired Curry, May moved up to the head chair, and the Owls hit their stride during the 2021-22 season with a 19-15 record – including an 11-7 mark in league action – to get a CBI appearance.
A year later, they made the Final Four to become a national name. Now, May is heading to Michigan, where he’ll hope to have similar success with the Wolverines and get the program back on track.