In shadows of Dusty May, JMV isn't Eastern Greene High's most notable alum: 'I love it'

INDIANAPOLIS – Indy sports radio host JMV saw what Dan Wetzel, a Yahoo sports columnist with 283K followers on Twitter, tweeted after coach Dusty May led his Florida Atlantic basketball team to the Final Four.

"How many high schools have only one 'notable alumni?' Big day for FAU coach Dusty May and Eastern Greene High School in Bloomfield, Ind.," Wetzel tweeted with a screenshot of Eastern Greene's Wikipedia page, listing just one name beneath the heading "notable alumni" – Dusty May.

Eastern Greene High. That was John Gliva's stomping grounds. That is his school. That's where he played basketball and was a catcher for the baseball team, dreaming of one day being a star college athlete. That's where he was snubbed by all the girls at the Eastern Greene High Lady's Choice Snow Ball. That's the place he adores and talks endlessly about as the afternoon host of "The Ride with JMV," on The Fan.

Around these parts, in most of his listeners' minds, JMV is their No. 1 Eastern Greene High notable alum. He is Indianapolis' longest running sports radio host, with more than 30 years in the business and more than 20 years as host of his own show.

It was a career that started back at May's high school when JMV took two boom boxes, taped Casey Kasem's Top 40 and crafted his first radio show.

JMV said he is happy to be sharing the Eastern Greene spotlight with May, even if Wetzel or Wikipedia isn't recognizing him.

"That’s all right. I saw that. I understand," JMV said. "You know what’s funny about it? I love it."

He actually does love it. Anyone who's listened to JMV's show during the NCAA tournament has heard him swooning over May, who graduated from Eastern Greene in 1995, seven years after JMV. He is like a proud older brother, 53, who just may have taught 46-year-old May a thing or two on the court through the years.

The two have played too many 5 a.m. and noon pickup games with and against one another to count. May was a four-year starting point guard at Eastern Greene, who played one year of college at then-Division II Oakland City (Ind.), but left to work for Bob Knight as IU basketball's student manager.

When he comes back to Indiana for recruiting, May often shoots JMV a text to see if there are any pickup games to play. JMV and May texted back and forth the night after No. 9 FAU beat No. 3 Kansas State 79-76 to make it to the Final Four.

"We do talk a lot," JMV said. "But I try to leave him alone. I know he has so much on his shoulders and so many people coming at him."

May is, after all, Eastern Greene High's only notable alumni.

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'Man it was a great place to grow up'

With May in the spotlight, JMV said he's finally been able to really get behind a team and experience the thrill of just being a fan.

"Watching him coach, it was about where I grew up," JMV said of watching FAU in the NCAA tournament. "That’s the first time I had this deeply rooted interest, feeling, 'Let's get this job done.' I haven't felt that way about a basketball team in a long time. Honestly? That felt really good."

But now, with FAU headed to Houston to take on No. 5 San Diego State on Saturday, JMV is in a bit of a conundrum. What to do for the Final Four? He has three tempting options.

His Eastern Greene friends want him to go to Houston with them. "This is all in jest, but I don't know if there is enough bail money for that," JMV says laughing.

His high school is holding a watch party at the gym. How cool would that be to watch May coach on a big screen inside the gym they both played in?

But JMV is really superstitious. And so this Saturday, he'll likely go for the third option ‒ doing exactly what he was doing when May coached FAU to the Final Four last Saturday ‒ hosting #JMVTakeover, an all-request music show on B105.7-FM.

"I think I need to keep doing what I have done," he said. And so as he plays listeners' requests Saturday, he'll be keeping tabs on the FAU game. And he will be fawning over his fellow alum.

"Dusty has always been exactly what he is right now," JMV said. "He was the leader of the team. He was the coach of the floor then and his guys play exactly as he plays. Tough, gritty, they're together. Every time I watch them play, I see his guys in terms of how I saw him."

If JMV couldn't put Eastern Greene High on the national map, he says it again, he's OK with that. He's just thrilled that May has shined a little light on his old stomping grounds.

"That’s one thing about where we grew up, even if you leave, you never really lose that connection," JMV said. "We’re all still brothers and sisters and friends. That never leaves. We make fun of where I grew up out in the sticks, very rural area. But man, it was a great place to grow up."

A place that produced, in our humble opinion, two notable alumni.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: FAU's Dusty May overshadows JMV as Eastern Greene High notable alum