Owls hire UF assistant May
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic has found its ninth men’s head basketball coach in University of Florida assistant coach Dusty May, the school announced Thursday.
Though May has not served as a head coach at any level, the Indiana University graduate has worked as an assistant since the 2005-06 season and has spent time at Eastern Michigan, Murray State and Alabama-Birmingham. May has worked with Florida head coach Mike White — whose brother, Brian, was hired as FAU’s athletic director earlier this month — since the 2011-12 season when both were with Louisiana Tech. May had been at Florida with White the past three seasons.
“The opportunity to recruit in such a fertile region, the momentum this university is enjoying and the enormous potential here are ideal starting points,” May said in a press release issued by the school. “We will be winners here, and we will play with tremendous passion and energy. The vision of President John Kelly, the board of trustees and the athletic department under the leadership of Brian White made this move an easy decision. I can’t wait to get started.”
May replaces Michael Curry, who coached the Owls for four seasons before being fired on March 16. Curry took the Owls to three C-USA tournaments in four seasons, but never posted a winning record and saw many of his overall wins come against NAIA and Division III teams.
The hiring of May may come as a surprise given FAU’s history of luring bigname coaches to its basketball program.
Curry was an NBA veteran who coached the Detroit Pistons in 2008-09.; His predecessor in Boca Raton, Mike Jarvis, had sustained success at George Washington and St. John’s. FAU previously employed Matt Doherty (2004-05) and Rex Walters (2006-08).
“Dusty was my No. 1 choice, and I am thrilled to have him lead our men’s basketball program,” said Brian White. “This hire is a clear demonstration of the ambition we have for our basketball program, our athletic department and our university. Dusty will bring tremendous passion, determination and work ethic to this position. The future of the FAU men’s basketball program is bright.”
UM’s Brown to test NBA draft: Bruce Brown is testing the waters. Miami announced Thursday that Brown, the sophomore guard, has declared for the NBA draft but will not hire an agent. That would allow him to participate in the predraft process, including the NBA combine, but return to school if he wants.
Brown, 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, missed the final 12 games of the season because of a stress fracture in his left foot. NBADraft.net projects Brown as the No. 55 overall player available. He was projected as a potential lottery pick before the season, in which he averaged 11.4 points and led UM with 7.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists.