Dusty May coaching timeline: How Florida Atlantic’s 2023 Final Four run helped coach land Michigan job originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Dusty May cemented himself as one of college basketball’s top young coaches when he took FAU to the Final Four in 2023, but it’s fair to say he’s proven himself to be one of the nation’s top coaches in general at Michigan.
Beyond his in-game coaching prowess, May looks like one of the game’s best talent evaluators between the roster he built at FAU and the way he identified Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara, both role players with their former schools, as building blocks who could help Michigan get to the Final Four.
Long before he arrived at Michigan, May got his start through a coaching legend who helped set the standard for him.
Here’s a look at May’s coaching career, from his days as a video assistant to the head coach at Michigan.
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May has only served as the head coach of two different programs, taking over at FAU in 2018 and jumping to Michigan in 2024. The 2025-26 season was his eighth as a head coach.
Here’s a complete timeline of May’s coaching career, including stops as an assistant.
May became a student manager under Knight at Indiana shortly after grading from Eastern Greene High School in Bloomfield, Indiana. The story of how he ended up in that position is fascinating.
According to The Indianapolis Star, May did yard work for a man named Dave Rutherford when he was a teenager. Rutherford connected May with Indiana team physician Larry Rink, who had him do some more yard work and later convinced May to transfer to Indiana and become a student manager when he heard about the teenager’s coaching aspirations.
May’s four seasons as a student manager coincided with Knight’s final four seasons at Indiana.
May joined Henry Bibby’s staff at USC in a low-level role for two seasons after graduating from Indiana, serving as a video assistant for the Trojans. USC reached the Elite Eight in 2001.
May returned to Indiana sometime after the 2001-02 season, but he didn’t receive a role on coach Mike Davis’ staff despite his familiarity with Davis. May instead worked in an administrative role for the program, which missed the NCAA Tournament in both 2004 and 2005.
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May earned his first assistant coaching role under Charles Ramsey at Eastern Michigan in 2005. The Eagles finished just 7-21, but the stop proved to be a stepping stone for May.
Murray State went to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 but was forced to conduct a coaching search after losing Mick Cronin. The Racers hired Billy Kennedy, who added May to his staff.
Murray State went 16-14 (13-7 in conference play) during May’s only season on staff.
UAB hired Mike Davis in 2006, making May a natural fit with the Blazers after overlapping with the coach during his stints at Indiana.
The Blazers won at least 22 games in May’s two seasons on staff, but he moved on from Davis for a fresh start in 2009.
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May was hired away by Kerry Rupp and Louisiana Tech ahead of the 2009-10 season. The Bulldogs went 24-10 in May’s first season on staff before falling under .500 and firing Rupp in 2011. Rupp’s replacement, Mike White, thought highly enough of May to keep him on staff despite not having a direct connection.
White’s decision to retain May proved to be a success for both coaches’ careers. Louisiana Tech won at least 27 games in three of White’s four seasons, leading both White and May to greener pastures in 2015.
May was set to return for a seventh season on White’s staff at Louisiana Tech until Billy Donovan’s exit for the NBA created an opening at Florida. White accepted the job and brought May over to serve as a key piece of his staff. The Gators reached the Elite Eight with May on staff in 2017.
May received his first head coaching opportunity at FAU in 2018, shortly after Michael Curry was fired. The decision made sense even beyond basketball: FAU’s newly hired athletic director was (and still is) Mike White’s brother Brian.
While any longtime assistant coach would be thrilled at the opportunity to become a head coach, May now says he initially regretted the decision after seeing how rundown the program’s facilities were.
“I walk in the room and I started crying and said, ‘I just committed career suicide. I’m not good enough. I can’t do this,'” May told CBS Sports in March. May said he signed the deal with FAU before seeing the team’s facilities.
“I would’ve left and went back to Gainesville after signing the contract if it wasn’t for my relationship with Mike [White] and his family,” he told CBS Sports.
May said he signed the contract because he felt in his gut that it was the correct decision. He was right. May guided the Owls to six consecutive winning seasons after seven consecutive losing campaigns, improbably reaching the Final Four in 2023 and going back to the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
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After running it back at FAU following his 2023 Final Four run, May made the jump to Michigan to replace Juwan Howard in 2024. The job in Ann Arbor gave May his first opportunity to be a high-major head coach as he took over a program rich with history and, more importantly in the current era, resources.
The results have been difficult to dispute. May took Michigan to the Sweet 16 in his first season, beating expectations, and the Wolverines earned a No. 1 seed and trip to the Final Four in 2026. May is the 18th coach in college basketball history to take two different schools to the Final Four.
SeasonSchoolWLPct2018-19FAU1716.5152019-20FAU1715.5312020-21FAU1310.5832021-22FAU1915.6112022-23FAU354.8972023-24FAU259.7352024-25Michigan2710.7302025-26Michigan353.921Total18882.696
May has never had a losing season in eight years as a head coach, with two 35-win campaigns, two Final Four appearances and four NCAA Tournament appearances to his name already.
May has yet to win a national championship, though he certainly looks like he can win one at Michigan.
The Wolverines haven’t won a title themselves since 1989, so the first for May, if it comes, would also be the first in a long time for a program that is just 1-6 in national championship games.
