Michigan hires FAU head coach Dusty May to replace Juwan Howard
Michigan fired head coach Juwan Howard earlier this month after five seasons with the program
Michigan has found its replacement for Juwan Howard.
The school announced Sunday morning that it had agreed to a five-year deal with Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May. His contract is for five years and averages $3.75 million per season.
"For almost two decades Dusty May's proven track record as a winner, including Florida Atlantic's magical run to a 2023 Final Four, speaks volumes about him and his coaching," Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement. "We are so delighted to welcome Dusty, and his family, to the University of Michigan. He embodies the values of high integrity and outstanding character, coupled with an unparalleled understanding of the game of basketball.
May's hire officially comes two days after Florida Atlantic was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by another Big Ten team. The Owls lost to Northwestern in the first round on Friday.
May has spent the last six seasons at FAU, which marked his first head coaching job in college basketball. He led the Owls on a Final Four run — they were a buzzer-beater away from making the national championship game — last season and it immediately made him one of the most sought-after coaches in the country. FAU went 25-9 this season and reached the NCAA tournament for a second straight year.
May is responsible for FAU's only two seasons ranked in the national polls, and he compiled a 126-69 overall record in six years.
Michigan fired Howard earlier this month after it was knocked out of the Big Ten tournament by Penn State. The Wolverines ended the year on a nine-game losing streak, which marked their third losing streak this past season with at least five losses, and had just a 8-24 record. Howard finished with an 87-72 record, and made just two NCAA tournaments in five seasons. He dealt with several tumultuous stints in Ann Arbor, too, including a suspension after he hit a Wisconsin assistant coach and a reported confrontation with Michigan's trainer earlier this season.
May had been linked to several high-profile jobs this season, including at Louisville, Ohio State, Vanderbilt and even Indiana — which opted to keep Mike Woodson despite May’s deep connections to the Hoosiers. Ohio State, which fired longtime coach Chris Holtmann, already promoted interim coach Jake Diebler. Louisville split with Kenny Payne earlier this month after a brutal two-year tenure, and Vanderbilt fired head coach Jerry Stackhouse.
May will now be tasked with reviving the Wolverines’ program, which fell off hard after a pair of deep tournament runs in 2021 and 2022. They went just 18-16 last season and missed the NCAA tournament before this year’s rough outing. But with the way he brought FAU onto the national stage for the first time in the program's existence, the Wolverines are betting he can duplicate that success quickly in Ann Arbor.
