May’s son is on Michigan staff during Final Four | Sports News

Dusty May’s son Eli is strolling the identical path as his father whereas Michigan pushes towards the national championship sport. Michigan has navigated a largely clean March Madness highway to the Final Four. May, named USBWA National Coach of the Year in 2026, is chasing his first championship title.

He guided Florida Atlantic University to the Final Four in 2023 and has replicated that success with Michigan in 2026. May is aiming to finish the journey along with his son Eli working as a pupil supervisor — mirroring May’s own expertise at Division II Oakland City University beneath Bob Knight at Indiana.

Eli was a walk-on at South Florida earlier than transferring to Michigan, the place he performed beneath former Wolverines coach Juwan Howard. When May arrived at Michigan, Eli remained in his place. In different information, UConn head coach Dan Hurley’s dad is a basketball legend, however his faculty out of the blue closed.

“I didn’t necessarily want to take this path,” Eli acknowledged. However, he could have performed his final sport in uniform, dedicating himself to a trajectory that might mirror his father’s ascent.

“I’d seen the managers from the outside, but I’d never been inside a program and seen it,” Eli defined. “What they’ve learned, how they go about their business, it made me want to be a manager more than anything. I feel like it’s a much better path to becoming a coach eventually.”

Initially reluctant, May finally relented and allowed his son, Eli, to grow to be a pupil supervisor, although he had hoped Eli would pursue a profession as an athletic director or front-office govt relatively than teaching.

However, like father, like son. Eli now demonstrates the identical dedication May as soon as confirmed as a pupil supervisor, arriving earlier than gamers for observe and exercises, and rebounding for them during capturing periods. Student managers review sport footage for coaches and take part with the scout group during observe.

They additionally compile statistics and monitor opponents’ play calls during video games, whereas handling numerous different program tasks, from cleansing up to transporting coaches to airports to fetching meals.

“It’s obviously tough to give up playing the game and being on a team wearing a jersey,” May shared with USA TODAY Sports. “But I just thought as far as his long-term development, all the things our managers learn, problem-solving, they learn people skills. They learn to function.

“We attempt to give them a lot of accountability as a result of we all know in the event that they’re ever going to make it in teaching… they need to have the expertise of doing significant work. Our managers have helped him grow to be a lot more accountable.”

Michigan faces Arizona within the Final Four of the 2026 males’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday, April 4.