3 college basketball teams who should grab FAU head coach Dusty May

Dusty May has done a tremendous job taking Florida Atlantic to the Final Four for the first time. These three schools should hire May as their next coach.

March Madness is often a time for small schools to make their mark on the nation and Florida Atlantic has seized their shot in 2023. The Owls are off to the Final Four for the first time in program history after outlasting Kansas State in the Elite Eight at Madison Square Garden and a lot of credit has to go to head coach Dusty May, who has done a tremendous job rebuilding the school’s basketball team.

May, who came to FAU in 2018 after serving as an assistant at Florida, took a program that had only been to one NCAA Tournament prior to this season and turned it into a 35-win beast this season. That kind of work at a non-traditional school will attract a ton of attention from high-powered programs in need of a reboot, which May can provide to them.

The Owls would undoubtedly like to keep May, a rising star at age 46, but larger schools with deeper pockets may offer a higher ceiling than what May can accomplish with Florida Atlantic. Let’s take a look at three programs with head coaching vacancies that should give May a call.

3 college basketball programs that should hire FAU’s Dusty May

Temple Owls

This move would trade in the FAU Owls for the Temple Owls, a proud basketball school in Philadelphia that has fallen on hard times of late. Temple has only reached the NCAA Tournament once in the past seven years but has a window of opportunity to rise in the American with traditional powers Houston and Cincinnati off to the Big 12.

Adding a young coach like May makes a ton of sense since Temple has a better infrastructure than FAU and gives him the possibility to recruit out of the basketball-rich Northeast. Temple is still looking for a new head coach after Aaron McKie stepped down and replacing him with May would reinvigorate the program.

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions have been deliberate in their coaching search after failing to retain Micah Shrewsberry, who bolted for Notre Dame after guiding Penn State on an improbable run from the bubble to the Round of 32. Having Big Ten financing would guarantee a hefty raise for May and offer him plenty of resources to compete in terms of facilities and NIL support.

This is an inflection point for Penn State, which has been trying to make inroads as a basketball school but risks losing momentum with the wrong hire after losing Shrewsberry. Landing May, who now has a Final Four on his resume, would be an exciting hire that could allow the Nittany Lions to become a regular tournament threat in one of the nation’s premier basketball conferences.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

It hasn’t been very stable for Texas Tech, which lost Chris Beard to Texas a few years ago and saw Mark Adams resign after making racially insensitive comments. The Red Raiders could use a big jolt and were reportedly mulling a run at Rick Pitino before he opted to go to St. John’s, so hiring May would qualify as a splash.

The Big 12 is the toughest basketball conference in the country but May has power-conference experience as an SEC assistant and has shown he can get great results without a ton of financial backing. Texas Tech is very willing to provide support to its basketball program and adding a young coach like May to be the face of the Red Raiders would help bring much-needed stability to the program.

For more NCAA basketball and March Madness news, analysis, opinion and features, check out more from the FanSided college basketball section to stay on top of the latest action.