NCAA Basketball: Top 12 candidates for 2022-23 Coach of the Year
By Joey Loose
Dusty May (Florida Atlantic)
Even the most well-connected people in college basketball didn’t quite see this one coming, even if the signs were all there. May’s fourth season ended on a relative hot streak, but it’s what he’s done this season in year five that’s caught the national attention. The former Florida assistant is simply leading this Owls program to the best season in their brief history.
Florida Atlantic currently sits at 22-2, having recently run off a streak of 20 consecutive wins. That streak began with a road upset over Florida back in November and by the end of the streak saw the Owls ranked in the AP Top 25. Florida Atlantic earned its first ranking in program history and has clearly been one of the top mid-majors this season. A road loss last week to UAB saw them tumble out of the rankings, but this team is still very serious as a contender.
A slew of talented sophomores has been the key to this success, as Nick Boyd, Johnell Davis, Vladislav Goldin, and Alijah Martin have all taken steps forward in their second seasons. The Owls not only have that nice win over an SEC program but have been very solid in Conference USA, sitting atop the league at 12-1, including sweeps of North Texas and Western Kentucky. This was a sleeper team expected to contend in the CUSA this season, but what they’ve accomplished has just come out of nowhere. May is another young coach whose name is going to be all over the place for these job openings in the offseason.