NCAA Basketball: Top 10 best coaching hires from 2024 offseason

2. Dusty May (Michigan)

One of the greatest aspects of the NCAA Tournament is the Cinderella runs that sometimes come out of nowhere. May and his Florida Atlantic squad fit that bill with their Final Four run last season. When that season ended many quickly wondered which power conference program would scoop him up, much like has happened with hot mid-major coaches of the past. That question was answered a year later as Michigan won that lottery and nabbed one of the hottest names in the sport.

May gained valuable experience very early as a student manager at Indiana under Bob Knight. He then worked on staff at half a dozen different schools, catching on under Mike White at Louisiana Tech and Florida. His own head coaching journey would begin at Florida Atlantic, who hired him back in 2018. There wasn’t much notable success in his first four years, but 35 wins and a Final Four was a pretty notable fifth season. With much of that roster back, he led the Owls back to the Big Dance this past season, though without success in the Tourney.

Juwan Howard wasn’t bad for Michigan, but after significant struggles the last few seasons it’s clear that the Wolverines are turning the page. May is the hot commodity and could be really successful in the Big Ten. It’s a conference he knows well from his own college days and it’s a program that will invest in his success. May could certainly get Michigan back towards the top of the Big Ten and was certainly among the most highly-anticipated names from the coaching carousel.