NCAA Tournament: 5 key storylines for Florida Atlantic vs San Diego State

NCAA Tournament: 5 key storylines for Florida Atlantic vs San Diego State matchup

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 25: The Florida Atlantic Owls celebrate with the East Regional trophy after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats 79-76 in the Elite Eight round game of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Tournament Brian Dutcher of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Dusty May vs. Brian Dutcher

Part of the fun in this Final Four matchup is the spotlight that will be shone on two head coaches that, until two weeks ago, were largely unknown by casual basketball fans.

Both Dusty May and Brian Dutcher were longtime assistants before becoming first-time head coaches at their current schools. Each can call a legendary coach a mentor. For May, he was a student manager under Bobby Knight at Indiana, while Dutcher served as Steve Fisher’s assistant at both Michigan and San Diego State for over 25 years combined.

Florida Atlantic’s ascension has made May a hot name in coaching rumors, with our own Mike Phillips detailing three potential suitors for the up-and-coming coach. The 46-year-old has previously served as an assistant at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, UAB, Louisiana Tech, and Florida, and could be the kind of splashy hire that a power conference school that’s down on its luck would love to invest in.

Florida Atlantic, of course, will do what they can to keep him, but history may be against the school. Other coaches who have led smaller schools to surprise Final Four runs include Porter Moser, who left Loyola-Chicago for Oklahoma; Shaka Smart, who eventually left VCU for Texas; and Brad Stevens, who left Butler for the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

Brian Dutcher is in a different situation. The longtime assistant has been at San Diego State since 1999 and was named the head coach in waiting in 2011. It seems unlikely the 63-year-old would be going anywhere, and why would he? Dutcher has picked up where Steve Fisher left off, making the Aztecs a perennial contender. His teams have a strong defensive identity, finishing in the top 25 in defensive efficiency the past four years.

This isn’t even the best team Dutcher has coached, as the 2020 Aztecs were 30-2 and on their way to a possible 1-seed before the season was ended due to Covid. Credit to my friend Andy Duvall for pointing out that the last two national champions, Kansas and Baylor, were two of the top contenders before the 2020 season was cut short. Maybe the hoops gods are setting the universe back in order, and the Aztecs will be cutting down the nets this time? If so, remind me to bet my house on Dayton next year.

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