By MALCOLM BUTLER, Lincoln Parish Journal
Former Louisiana Tech men’s basketball assistant coach Dusty May reached the pinnacle of his profession Monday night when he guided the Michigan Wolverines to the NCAA Division I national championship.
May was associate head coach of the Bulldogs under Mike White in his final season in Ruston before following White to Florida in 2015. He coached at Tech from 2009-15, making the transition from Kerry Rupp’s Bulldogs staff to working for White.
His Wolverines finished 37-3 after topping Connecticut 69-63 for the national title, capping his second season as head coach at Michigan. May, 49, recently reportedly spurned an offer to become head coach at North Carolina and pledged his loyalty to Michigan, where his current salary is over $5 million per season.
The Terre Haute, Indiana, native was an integral part in the Bulldogs’ impressive 2013-14 season that saw the team post an overall record of 29-8, tying for the most victories ever in a single season in program history. With the 29 wins came a share of the Conference USA regular season title in the school’s first year in the league and a runner-up finish in the C-USA Tournament.
Tech also registered wins over Big 12 second place finisher Oklahoma and SEC second place finisher Georgia and was one win shy of reaching the National Invitation Tournament Final Four.
The prior season was just as historic as the backcourt tandem of Kenneth Smith and Raheem Appleby were selected first team All-WAC as well as having Alex Hamilton named to the All-Newcomer team. The 2012-13 season concluded with a 27-7 overall record and a 16-2 mark in conference that earned the ‘Dogs their first ever WAC regular season championship.
May followed White to the University of Florida where he spent three seasons before taking the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic (2018-24). He led the Owls to an appearance in the 2023 NCAA Final Four as No. 9 seed FAU won 35 games and posted wins over No. 8 Memphis, No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson, No. 4 Tennessee and No. 3 Kansas State, before losing to No. 5 San Diego State in the final seconds.
He took over at Michigan for the 2024-25 season, replacing Juwan Howard, and was named the 2026 Big Ten Conference and U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s National Coach of the Year. He has a career head coaching record of 189-82.
He served as a student manager for legendary Hall of Fame coach Bobby Knight while at Indiana University (1996-2000).
May’s son, Charlie, is a reserve player for the Wolverines, and his youngest son, Eli, is a team manager.
Contact Malcolm at lpjnewsla@gmail.com