Eastern Greene's Dusty May coaches the Owls to stellar record using Hoosier principles

BOCA RATON, Fla. — “Winning in paradise.”

That is the sports marketing logo on the basketball court at Florida Atlantic University, located in Boca Raton, a short bike ride from the beaches of the shining Atlantic. It is an especially fitting slogan for this 2022-23 FAU men’s basketball season, which is something right out of paradise for the Owls and their coach, Eastern Greene and Indiana University grad Dusty May.

Paradise is a glittering 21-1 record.

Paradise is the nation’s longest winning streak, 20 games.

Paradise is the school’s first Top 25 ranking (three weeks running now).

Paradise is a perch at the top of Conference USA.

Paradise is showing up in just about every projected bracket for the NCAA Tournament.

Paradise is the unprecedented buzz around campus, leading to record-breaking attendance.

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It is all uncharted territory for this program, which for its first quarter of a century has been more like Paradise Lost. Even though it is located near the talent-rich areas of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, FAU has not been known for its basketball despite the efforts of some well-known coaches – Sidney Green, Matt Doherty, Rex Walters, Mike Jarvis, Michael Curry. Only one of them, Doherty, ever managed a winning career record (15-13) in his lone season at FAU. Between 1993 and 2018 the Owls posted just five winning seasons and one conference championship (2002), resulting in their only NCAA bid.

Then along came a 40-something coach whose basketball roots are right out of “Hoosiers,” a man who played his high school basketball at a small school in Indiana before becoming a basketball manager at IU. The young man’s very name smacks of one of those movie lads – Dusty May. That might ring a bell to people in southern Indiana. May was an outstanding point guard for Eastern Greene from 1991-95. He played one year at Oakland University but decided Division II basketball wasn’t for him. So he chose a different career path, coaching.

Roots

May got the coaching bug in high school while playing for Mark Barnhizer, a demanding man who May said exposed him to “work ethic, determination, willpower. He (Barnhizer) is probably as strong-willed as anyone who has walked the face of the earth.”

So May already was well prepared for his next mentor, IU basketball coach Bob Knight, who saw to it that the rookie manager would have to work his way up.

“You start out as a freshman doing water and towels,” May said. “Sophomore year you go a different direction, whether to videos or stats. It was a full-time job. You had to be there an hour before practice and an hour after practice.

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“What I learned from Coach Knight was the value of being a great teacher. Every year I coach I try to be a better teacher. Looking back, it was how simple Coach Knight made complex things.”

May graduated in 2000. Before Knight’s firing later that year, he invited May back to be a graduate assistant. May accepted, but then a full-time job offer came from Henry Bibby at Southern Cal. Two years later, after Indiana expanded basketball operations following IU’s run to the 2002 Final Four, then-coach Mike Davis brought May back to Bloomington for a position that, among other things, led to May’s first taste of recruiting.

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After brief assistant coaching stops at Eastern Michigan, Murray State and Alabama-Birmingham, May joined Mike White’s staff at Louisiana Tech and then followed him to the University of Florida. In 2018 FAU came calling. White’s brother, Brian White, the athletic director at FAU, invited May to come down for an interview, but May almost passed on the opportunity.

“I was tired of moving,” May said. “I loved the Gainesville community. I felt that professionally I had prepared myself for the position, but I wasn’t personally ready for the move."

Fortunately, May did take a visit and was blown away by the tropical beauty of the area as he and his wife, Anna, made the coastal drive along State Road A1A.

“The GPS took us through Delray Beach on A1A (north of Boca Raton), and we said, ‘This is it.’ We fell in love with the area.”

Preaching an Indiana brand of basketball – stifling defense, sharing the ball, a willingness to put the team first – May installed a winning formula. In his first year the Owls went 17-16 for their first winning season since 2011, making May a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award as the best first-year coach in Division I. The Owls improved over each of the next three seasons until putting it all together this year.

A sign of things to come appeared in their third game. The Owls were 1-1 after losing at Ole Miss, shorthanded without their most experienced player. Back at full strength against Florida in Gainesville, they stormed from behind in the second half to beat the Gators, 76-74. The Owls haven’t lost since, extending that winning streak to 20 on Jan. 28, the same day Charleston, the previous holder of the nation’s longest streak at 20, fell to Hofstra.

‘Team’ first

An Indiana basketball purist would enjoy the way this team is constructed. There are no McDonald’s All-Americans, no gaudy stats. Only three players average scoring in double figures, and nine players average 15 minutes or more. The two leading scorers average just under 13 points and come off the bench – third-year sophomore guards Alijah Martin and Johnell Davis.

Davis, the lone Hoosier native on the team, played his high school ball at 21st Century High School in Gary. He and Martin, an All-Conference USA pick last year, were starters to open the year but wound up missing games with injuries. Even shorthanded, the Owls were playing so well against a competitive non-conference schedule that May asked the former starters if they wouldn’t mind coming off the bench. They didn’t hesitate to answer “yes.” The whole team is selfless in that way.

“There are guys who could be playing 28 minutes but are playing 18,” May said. “I want to single them all out because what they are doing is truly, truly special in an era when our game is becoming so individual. I can’t imagine this happening at many other places.”

Into the spotlight

As the wins mounted, the nation started to take note. On Jan. 16, the Owls made their first-ever appearance in the Top 25 at No. 24. And then came the requests for May on national TV and radio, first from Jim Rome and then from Doug Gottlieb.

Tickets became a hot commodity when the students returned after the holidays. The Jan. 14 game against defending conference champion North Texas broke an attendance record when over 3,000 fans filled the Owls’ cozy gym, “The Burrow,” (where the Owls live). They surpassed that crowd against Middle Tennessee State on Jan. 26. With an enrollment over 30,000, FAU might need a bigger arena before long. The excitement hasn’t hurt the team’s focus, though.

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“Our guys are very mature, driven,” May said. “Most importantly, they love to play ball. Once you get them between the lines, the buzz, the media, the social media – all that’s gone because they are focused. I’ve never been around a group who support and love each other like these guys.”

May just turned 46. Take away the salt-and-pepper hair and he could still pass for a student manager. His youthfulness rubs off on the players, who are not afraid to engage him in a chest bump. May even rides his bike to work. He is a father of four, and his oldest son, Jack, is a red-shirt sophomore on the University of Florida basketball team.

Given his success, May is at that stage in his career where he will be catching the eye of higher profile programs. He already has been mentioned as a replacement for Mike Brey, who is stepping down at Notre Dame. But paradise would be a hard thing to leave behind, May said, thinking about why he came to south Florida in the first place.

“I felt it was a place to grow as a coach and not feel the pressure of a lack of success. I feel we have a few superstars that are sacrificing for the good of the whole. They are sacrificing shots, minutes and points for wins. That’s a testimony of them wanting something bigger for all of us.”

Lynn Houser was a sportswriter for the H-T from 1984-2012. Also contributing to this piece was former Indiana sportswriter Jim Saturday. They both retired to Delray Beach, Fla.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Dusty May finds winning formula at Florida Atlantic University