Coach dies after he’s hit by car
Prince Tech basketball’s May struck by Jeep in high-speed hit-and-run
Prince Tech boys basketball coach Kendall May was killed Friday in a hit-and-run crash in Hartford.
The crash took place in the area of 3324 Main St. near Rosemont Street around 6:30 p.m., according to the Hartford Police Department. Officers in the area found May lying in the road unresponsive and “immediately began lifesaving measures,” police said. May was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The department identified the evading vehicle as a grey Jeep Cherokee with Vermont license plate KGE457. According to reports, the driver hit May and fled north on Main Street. The high-speed crash was captured on multiple cameras in the area, police said.
May, 56, who lived in Bloomfield, coached boys basketball, boys cross country, and girls outdoor track at Prince Tech, where he worked as the school’s in-house suspension officer, Prince Tech girls basketball coach Polly Innerarity, a good friend of May’s, said.
“He was Prince Tech, through and through,” Prince Tech Athletic Director Dennis Mercado said Saturday. “He graduated from Prince Tech. Came back to work at Prince Tech. The lives he touched are beyond measure. We have parents sending their kids to Prince Tech because they knew he was there. He did so much for the students, the staff.”
“He brought a lot of passion. He wasn’t trying to just develop athletes, he was there to create good people, people who would give back to the community. He pushed everybody to become better, to be better, he gave them hope to look forward — I want to
make you a better person, that’s what he taught those kids.”
Innerarity said that every day before school started, she and May would talk and share a hug.
“Every single day,” she said Saturday. “We would touch base, give each other a hug, talk about different things. Basketball season, we’d talk about basketball and the players.
“He was a role model for the kids. He was always there for the kids. He would talk to the kids on his lunch duty, the kids would come by his room in between their classes. He was always talking to parents. He always had the support of the community.
“If a kid gets in trouble and they come to in-school suspension, he always talks to them. Try to give them positive words. He’d always try to be there for the kids, even though you’re in trouble — ‘I want to help you, I want to give you some life lessons.’ ”
As word of May’s death broke Saturday, current and former players, students and fans took to social media to share condolences and express their grief.
“It was always more than basketball it was the father figure you were
with so many people,” said Dajon Nelson, who graduated from Prince Tech in 2022, in an Instagram post. “Most importantly you taught me
the difference between a boy and a man. I love you coach May.
May began his basketball coaching career at Prince Tech in 1998.
At the time, the 31-year-old firstyear head coach thought he would move on to the college level after securing a few state championship wins — becoming a career high school coach was not part of the plan.
But as May carved his own identity and legacy at Prince Tech, he found a lifelong home.
“I always wanted to be a role model for these kids,” May told the Courant after securing his 400th career win in 2021. “When they leave, they’re 18, 19 years old. That’s the formative years of a young man to try and find out who he is as a young person … (we offer) discipline, things that they can take from this and carry on to when they become fathers.”
The championship ring eluded May his entire career. The ’21 season that brought May’s 400th win, and an undefeated record for Prince Tech, also had the state tournament suspended due to COVID-19.
May saw his role at Prince Tech not as a job, but as a calling and a passion.
“A wise man once said, ‘If you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,’ ” May said in 2021. “Basketball is something I love.”
The Hartford Police Crime Scene Division is investigating the crash. Any witnesses or anyone with information are asked to contact the Hartford Police Department at 860-722-8477.