Dusty May has parlayed teenage yard work into the Final Four.
The former IU basketball student manager turned Division I head coach at Florida Atlantic has the Owls in the 2023 Final Four after an Elite Eight win over Kansas State on Saturday evening.
The 46-year-old May was at Indiana from 1996 to 2000. His last season as a student manager there was legendary IU coach Bob Knight’s last season in Bloomington.
May grew up playing high school basketball in the shadow of Bloomington at nearby Eastern Greene High School.
He knew he wanted to be a coach, and he didn’t have to look very far to find a good one to learn from.
But May needed a break to garner one of IU’s highly sought after manager positions in 1996. As it turned out, mowing IU team doctor Larry Rink’s lawn would be the first of many breaks for him. That connection was enough to get him into the IU program as a team manager after playing Division II basketball for a year.
May told Sirius XM NBA Radio yesterday what he got out of working as a manager in Knight’s program.
“You never even think about getting paid, you just want the knowledge and experience of being around greatness like Coach Knight.”
Prior to this season, the Owls had never won an NCAA Tournament game. In his first season at Florida Atlantic in 2018-19, May led the Owls to their first winning season since 2011. They’ve had winning campaigns each year since, culminating in their best season in program history.
Florida Atlantic (35-3) will play the winner of Creighton and San Diego State next weekend in Houston.
The head coach. Dusty May. All he wanted to be was an Indiana high school coach. Well he’s heading to the @MFinalFour for @FAUMBB in @MarchMadnessMBB: pic.twitter.com/eBepda34X9
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) March 26, 2023
Dusty
May
Final 4️⃣
🦉 #whowouldathunkit— A.J. Guyton (@ajguyton) March 26, 2023
Hoot. Hoot. We are going to the Final Four. @FAUMBB
— Dane Fife (@CoachDaneFife) March 26, 2023
IU Basketball: The Most Improbable Branch of Bob Knight’s Coaching Tree
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