How Michigan's Dusty May went from 'trying to beg' for a job at the Final Four to the cusp of a national title

INDIANAPOLIS — Dusty May’s first trip to a Final Four in Indianapolis was a bit less glamorous than his current one. He and three other Indiana men’s basketball student managers spent multiple days posted up in the lobby of the downtown Indianapolis Marriott that was hosting the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ annual convention. Their goal was to introduce themselves to as many big-time coaches as possible and to leave Final Four weekend with an offer to join one of their staffs as a graduate assistant.

“All of us managers who wanted to find a way into coaching in any capacity would pile in a car and just get out and hopefully bump into any coach and find a way to make an impression,” May said. “So it’s just a full-circle moment to go from chasing around coaches trying to beg for a GA spot to being back here with this team. ” More than a quarter century after May, Joe Pasternack, Dan Block and Matthew Babrick all came to the 2000 Final Four eager to find an entry point into coaching, at least three of those four former Indiana student managers plan to be back in Indianapolis.

Babrick said he and his two sons are flying in from Los Angeles to watch May try to win his first national title when Michigan takes on UConn on Monday night . Block is also expected to attend, according to May. The lessons that May took from working as a student manager under Bob Knight have helped shape the way he approaches the game to this day.

No, the perpetually calm, collected May doesn’t emulate Knight’s fiery temper and drill-sergeant demeanor. He has instead taken Knight’s work ethic, attention to detail and knack for teaching and blended them with new-school ideas about creating a supportive environment and turning mistakes into learning opportunities. “Those are the things I learned most from Coach Knight, the preparation, the anticipation of whatever comes next,” May said.