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Head Coach Candidate Profile: Dusty May
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
The up and coming FAU head coach already has a Final Four under his belt, and is reportedly one of Ohio State’s top targets.
Current position: Head coach, Florida Atlantic (2018-present)
Previous Stops:
Eastern Michigan (2005-2006, assistant)
Murray State (2006-2007, assistant)
UAB (2007-2009, assistant)
Louisiana Tech (2009-2015, assistant)
Florida (2015-2018, assistant)
Overall Record: 123-67 (.647)
Accolades:
Conference USA Coach of the Year
Conference USA regular season championship
NCAA Tournament:
1 Sweet 16
1 Elite Eight
1 Final Four
1 tournament appearance in 5 opportunities
4-1 overall record in NCAA Tournament
Current Contract:
10-year, $15.7-million contract that runs through 2033
$1 million buyout
Along with Sean Miller, Dusty May is the only other coach that Ohio State has already began discussing the position with, per Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch on his “Buckeye Xtra” Podcast. The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported on “The Goodman and Hummel Podcast” on Monday that May might actually be Ohio State’s priority target. Of course, neither Gene Smith nor Ross Bjork are allowed to directly contact May until the season ends, but they can speak to his agent or other people close to him to get a feel for what he — or any other candidates — may think about the job.
May would bring NCAA Tournament credentials to Ohio State, having taken Florida Atlantic to the Final Four last season as a 9-seed. If it wasn’t for a last-second buzzer-beater from San Diego State’s Lamont Butler, May’s Owls would have been playing in the national championship against UConn.
One good season, one strong run in a conference tournament, or one solid tournament run isn’t typically enough to win over the court of public opinion on a coach, but going to a Final Four is different. The number of Final Fours a coach has made is one of the most common benchmarks that separates the good coaches from the great ones, and May already has one under his belt by age 47. If Ohio State fans are looking for a coach who’s been successful in the NCAA Tournament, May’s Final Four run should assuage any concerns that he’s not built to go on a deep run late in the season and into the NCAA Tournament.
May has also had this success without the benefit of four or five-star recruits that would become available to him if he was at Ohio State. The leading four scorers on last year’s Florida Atlantic team that beat Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and Kansas State on the way to the Final Four were Johnell Davis (0 stars), Vlad Goldin (3-star transfer), Alijah Martin (0 stars), and Nicholas Boyd (0 stars). Imagine if May was able to develop more blue-chip, four and five-star guys with the same tactics he has at FAU with less heralded recruits.
He’s also a midwest, Big Ten guy. May was born in Illinois, grew up in Indiana and was a team manager at Indiana University from 1996 to 2000. He’s been coaching in the South for the past 20 years or so, but his roots are in the Midwest and it seems inevitable that May’s next head coaching job, should he choose to make a move, will be in the Midwest.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25288900/usa_today_22393961.jpg "NCAA Basketball: North Texas at Florida Atlantic")
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
The biggest hindrance with hiring May is the obvious one — is there a deep enough track record to trust that he’s the home run hire Ross Bjork needs? After paying Chris Holtmann $12.8 million to leave, Ohio State will be committing to the next coach for a long time, which means Bjork needs to be darn sure the next guy is the person who will take this program to the next level.
Holtmann’s final two seasons stunk, but he did take Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament four times and won the first-round game three out of four times. The Buckeyes would’ve been a high seed in the 2020 tournament too, if it wasn’t canceled. Not every program would fire a coach who took the team to the tournament five out of seven seasons, but the standard at Ohio State is higher than just making the tournament.
Does one Final Four run, after not even making the NCAA Tournament his first four seasons at FAU, give Bjork and Gene Smith the confidence that May would consistently push Ohio State to the second or even third weekend of the tournament?
Does the fact that May has done a great job developing zero-star recruits into high-level players give them the confidence that May could win recruiting battles for four and five-star guys? Coaching at FAU, May hasn’t even had to recruit in the same circles as Big Ten coaches, let alone beat them for recruits. As soon as he takes over, he would need to keep the high-end talent in the state, as well as expand the recruiting footprint beyond Ohio and keep pulling top-100 players, like Holtmann was able to do.
Finally, there’s the Indiana thing. It’s a poorly-kept secret that May loves Indiana, and would absolutely take the job if it opened up. But since it doesn’t sound like the job is going to open up this year, how would Ohio State handle a situation where Indiana became available just a year or two after May was hired at OSU?
It would make sense to attach a massive buyout to May’s contract — something so massive that even Indiana wouldn’t be willing to pay it — perhaps in the $20 to $30 million dollar range. That would deter the Hoosiers from trying to lure May back to Bloomington, and if May isn’t willing to sign a contract with a buyout that large, Bjork would assuredly move on to another candidate.
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Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
The up and coming FAU head coach already has a Final Four under his belt, and is reportedly one of Ohio State’s top targets.
For the next several weeks, Land-Grant Holy Land will highlight candidates for the Ohio State men’s basketball head coaching position, including their current and previous coaching positions, win/loss record, and (in our opinion) the pros and cons of hiring each.
Current position: Head coach, Florida Atlantic (2018-present)
Previous Stops:
Eastern Michigan (2005-2006, assistant)
Murray State (2006-2007, assistant)
UAB (2007-2009, assistant)
Louisiana Tech (2009-2015, assistant)
Florida (2015-2018, assistant)
Overall Record: 123-67 (.647)
Accolades:
Conference USA Coach of the Year
Conference USA regular season championship
NCAA Tournament:
1 Sweet 16
1 Elite Eight
1 Final Four
1 tournament appearance in 5 opportunities
4-1 overall record in NCAA Tournament
Current Contract:
10-year, $15.7-million contract that runs through 2033
$1 million buyout
Why Ohio State should hire Dusty May:
Along with Sean Miller, Dusty May is the only other coach that Ohio State has already began discussing the position with, per Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch on his “Buckeye Xtra” Podcast. The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported on “The Goodman and Hummel Podcast” on Monday that May might actually be Ohio State’s priority target. Of course, neither Gene Smith nor Ross Bjork are allowed to directly contact May until the season ends, but they can speak to his agent or other people close to him to get a feel for what he — or any other candidates — may think about the job.
May would bring NCAA Tournament credentials to Ohio State, having taken Florida Atlantic to the Final Four last season as a 9-seed. If it wasn’t for a last-second buzzer-beater from San Diego State’s Lamont Butler, May’s Owls would have been playing in the national championship against UConn.
One good season, one strong run in a conference tournament, or one solid tournament run isn’t typically enough to win over the court of public opinion on a coach, but going to a Final Four is different. The number of Final Fours a coach has made is one of the most common benchmarks that separates the good coaches from the great ones, and May already has one under his belt by age 47. If Ohio State fans are looking for a coach who’s been successful in the NCAA Tournament, May’s Final Four run should assuage any concerns that he’s not built to go on a deep run late in the season and into the NCAA Tournament.
May has also had this success without the benefit of four or five-star recruits that would become available to him if he was at Ohio State. The leading four scorers on last year’s Florida Atlantic team that beat Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and Kansas State on the way to the Final Four were Johnell Davis (0 stars), Vlad Goldin (3-star transfer), Alijah Martin (0 stars), and Nicholas Boyd (0 stars). Imagine if May was able to develop more blue-chip, four and five-star guys with the same tactics he has at FAU with less heralded recruits.
He’s also a midwest, Big Ten guy. May was born in Illinois, grew up in Indiana and was a team manager at Indiana University from 1996 to 2000. He’s been coaching in the South for the past 20 years or so, but his roots are in the Midwest and it seems inevitable that May’s next head coaching job, should he choose to make a move, will be in the Midwest.
Why Ohio State should not hire Dusty May:
The biggest hindrance with hiring May is the obvious one — is there a deep enough track record to trust that he’s the home run hire Ross Bjork needs? After paying Chris Holtmann $12.8 million to leave, Ohio State will be committing to the next coach for a long time, which means Bjork needs to be darn sure the next guy is the person who will take this program to the next level.
Holtmann’s final two seasons stunk, but he did take Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament four times and won the first-round game three out of four times. The Buckeyes would’ve been a high seed in the 2020 tournament too, if it wasn’t canceled. Not every program would fire a coach who took the team to the tournament five out of seven seasons, but the standard at Ohio State is higher than just making the tournament.
Does one Final Four run, after not even making the NCAA Tournament his first four seasons at FAU, give Bjork and Gene Smith the confidence that May would consistently push Ohio State to the second or even third weekend of the tournament?
Does the fact that May has done a great job developing zero-star recruits into high-level players give them the confidence that May could win recruiting battles for four and five-star guys? Coaching at FAU, May hasn’t even had to recruit in the same circles as Big Ten coaches, let alone beat them for recruits. As soon as he takes over, he would need to keep the high-end talent in the state, as well as expand the recruiting footprint beyond Ohio and keep pulling top-100 players, like Holtmann was able to do.
Finally, there’s the Indiana thing. It’s a poorly-kept secret that May loves Indiana, and would absolutely take the job if it opened up. But since it doesn’t sound like the job is going to open up this year, how would Ohio State handle a situation where Indiana became available just a year or two after May was hired at OSU?
It would make sense to attach a massive buyout to May’s contract — something so massive that even Indiana wouldn’t be willing to pay it — perhaps in the $20 to $30 million dollar range. That would deter the Hoosiers from trying to lure May back to Bloomington, and if May isn’t willing to sign a contract with a buyout that large, Bjork would assuredly move on to another candidate.
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