Louisville Coaching Candidate Profile: Florida Atlantic Head Coach Dusty May
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville fired men's basketball head coach Kenny Payne last week week, ending a two-year stint with the Cardinals. As the coaching search begins, we will break down each potential candidate, from the realistic to the far reaches. Next up, we'll take a look at Florida Atlantic Owls head coach Dusty May.
Name: Dusty May
Age: 47
Born and Raised: Peoria, Ill.
Playing Career: None.
Previous Experience: Assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida before taking Florida Atlantic job in 2018.
Connections to Louisville: None.
Pros: May has seen a meteoric rise as one of the hottest young(er) coaches in college basketball, and for good reason. The 2022-23 season for Florida Atlantic was like something out of a Hollywood movie. In a season where FAU was picked to finish fifth in Conference USA, not only did the Owls crack the AP Top 25 for the first time in program history and clinch only their second ever conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth, May helped guide them on a miracle run all the way to the Final Four - and were a buzzer-beater away from reaching the national championship. This season, FAU has done very well in their first season in the American Athletic Conference. They have a handful of noteworthy non-conference wins - such as over then-No. 6 Arizona - and are firmly in the mix to secure an at-large berth in this year's Big Dance. May might not have an extensive recruiting track record, but he seems to embrace the modern college basketball landscape. The Owls did not lose a single player from their Final Four team to the transfer portal, and shortly after, FAU established the collective "NIL in Paradise" - an entity that May openly supports.
Cons: While May certainly has a lot more head coaching experience than Kenny Payne did, he isn't as long in the tooth as most other potential candidates are, nor does he have an extensive overall body of work. Prior to his very successful current two-year stint, May was just 66-56 in his first four years with FAU. Additionally, out of May's first five full high school recruiting cycles, his highest-ranking class - per 247Sports - is just 93rd over. However, those last two points could partially be attributed to the fact that he inherited a program that was 39-84 in the four years prior to his arrival, and that FAU is a mid-major. Building on that, May also doesn't have extensive experience at the high major level, as his only experience in a power conference was when he was an assistant at Florida for three seasons before taking the FAU job.
Other Factors: Out of all the candidates, May has arguably the most manageable buyout, as it recently dropped to just $1 million earlier this month. There are also some ties to the region despite the fact that he had coached in the deep South since 2007. He was born in Illinois, his alma mater is Indiana, and he spent a season at Murray State as an assistant. Louisville could also see themselves embroiled in a bidding war for May with other open high majors, although Ohio State did recently remove themselves from the conversation. One concern with May is that, even if he did take the Louisville job, there will always be speculation that he could take the IU job if they move on from Mike Woodson.
Odds of becoming Louisville's next head coach: Moderate to High. There's no question that Baylor head coach Scott Drew is Louisville's No. 1 target to pursue. However, it's more likely that Drew stays in Waco with the Bears than opts to leave, meaning the Cardinals will probably wind up having to pick a coach from the "best of the rest" category. May is arguably the top pick in this camp (along with Mick Cronin), and if Drew does saw no, I would anticipate that the university would hone in their efforts on May.
Other Candidates:
(Photo of Dusty May: Sam Navarro - USA TODAY Sports)
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