March Madness: This is the most random Final Four we’ve ever seen
USA TODAY Sports Paul Myerberg gives his first impressions of a wild looking Final Four.
USA TODAY
Florida Atlantic men’s basketball coach Dusty May has led the ninth-seeded Owls to their first Final Four in program history, but there was a point where he wanted out.
May was named head coach at Florida Atlantic in March 2018, nearly five years to the day from the Owls’ improbable March Madness run. He told CBS Sports that he signed the contract to become a first-time head coach at the university sight unseen.
He instantly regretted it.
“I walk in the room and I started crying and said, ‘I just committed career suicide. I’m not good enough. I can’t do this,'” May recalled telling his wife after signing the contract. “I’m not a big crier, but I burst into tears like a baby.”
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May said he started feeling buyer’s remorse after he saw the team’s facilities. The locker rooms were small. The arena only sat 2,500 people. Both were outdated, compared to what the former Florida assistant was used to under Gators coach Mike White. (Mike White is now the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team.)
“At that point, I still haven’t been to our gym, our weight room, our locker room,” he said. “The facilities weren’t up to par. And I had already accepted the job… I would’ve left and went back to Gainesville after signing the contract if it wasn’t for my relationship with Mike (White) and his family.”
FAU’s athletic director Brian White is the brother of May’s former boss, Mike White.
“We didn’t trick him or anything. I mean, I’d be lying if I told you that we showed him the arena before he signed his contract,” Brian White told CBS Sports. “That came after.”
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Mike White added that “Dusty experienced buyer’s remorse, as probably a lot of first-time head coaches do.”
May credited his decision to stick with the job to his relationship with the Whites and his wife Anna. The rest is history.
“We see today how special he is and this program he’s built is. I can’t believe where we are today. It’s just incredible,” Brian White said of May.
FAU will play No. 5 San Diego State in the Final Four in Houston on Saturday.
