Despite FAU being deep into their regular season and gearing up for a possible NCAA tournament run, search season is upon us. Dusty May’s name has been floated with the opening at Ohio State throughout the tail end of this season and despite him denouncing the rumors back on February 22nd, the mill spun out a new story stating Lebron James was making a pitch for May to come to Ohio State earlier this week.
Yes, you read that right, a variety of outlets, including Barstool Sports are reporting that The Owls head man is the preferred coach of choice for the King at his favorite college Ohio State. He is prepared to make a large monetary donation if that happens and another part of the deal reportedly, is that James’s Son, Bryce will commit to OSU to play for Coach May.
A pair of huge conference games are on deck for the Owls as they head to UNT on Wednesday to face off against a tough Mean Green squad and Saturday brings on another crucial battle with Memphis. Although he and the team’s focus are currently on North Texas and the battles that lie ahead, in his weekly press conference on Monday Coach May addressed the Lebron & OSU rumors and made light of them.
“I’d be flattered if Lebron James knew my name, to be honest… I was surprised to read that Barstool treated us well in Chicago for the Loyola game. We had a nice event, and we were very proud to be apart of that. Other than that, I’m not sure where that came from or what’s behind it. If Lebron James knew my name, I’d feel a little bit of flattery,” Coach May said.
After Coach May denied the rumors the first time around, nothing different should have been expected this time. The first time he was asked about this, he explained how these rumors have been flying at the team from different sources since last January, and he and the rest of the coaches are focused on the job at FAU.
“Fortunately for us this started happening last January in recruiting circles. Coaches say these things, ‘Oh your coach isn’t going to be here next year,’ and all I told the team last year was ‘there is nothing I can say, just wait, you know how much I love coaching here and how much I love you guys.’ I don’t know where this stuff originates, but there are going to be a lot of job openings every year going forward and you can’t spend time commenting on every single job opening. 100% of our focus in our locker room is on this job and doing the best we can with this job,” Coach May said after the teams win against SMU on 2/22.
Bigger schools coming after successful coaches from smaller conferences is something that happens quite often in college basketball. The coaches who are most successful are the ones who are able to push these reports away from their team and continue to move forward, and that’s exactly what FAU has been able to do.
Although May has addressed these reports twice now and has denied knowing where they came from, Jeff Goodman a college basketball analyst with the Field of 68 says that denials of this kind happen every offseason, and it’s a possibility that Coach May dons a different color quarter-zip next season.
“Every coach has no choice but to dispel rumors and speculation. It means nothing. It happens over and over every year. I’m not saying he’s definitely 100 percent leaving after this season, but I wouldn’t bet against it, either,” Goodman said in a statement to Bleacher Brothers.
The Merry-Go-round of college coaches is a tale as old as time, and it’s no surprise that Coach May is a part of the ride this offseason, given the success FAU has had over the past 2 years, but really the rise of the program over the last 6. One thing is certain, and it is that no one on this team, Coach included, is focused on anything outside of the next game on the docket and what is possible during this current season in-front of them.
Search Season may heat up even more once the final whistle of the 2023-2024 CBB season has sounded, however for now the goal for FAU and Owl nation is simple and remains unchanged despite any type of rumor… win.
