Dusty May Reflects On Time With Bob Knight As An Indiana Basketball Manager

On Thursday at Big Ten Media Days, Michigan's new coach Dusty May shared memories of being a student manager at Indiana under Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, and how that impacted him as a head coach.

Dusty May speaks at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday at Big Ten Media Days. / Jack Ankony/Indiana Hoosiers on SI

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Dusty May will return his alma mater during the 2024-25 season, but this time he'll be on the opposing sideline.

May was a student manager at Indiana from 1996-2000 under Bob Knight, and now he enters his first season as Michigan basketball's head coach. May is coming off a successful run at Florida Atlantic, where he reached the 2023 Final Four and went 60-13 over his final two seasons.

Michigan hired May to replace Juwan Howard, and the Wolverines were picked to finish ninth in the Big Ten in the unofficial preseason poll. May overhauled the roster with six transfers – Vlad Goldin (Florida Atlantic), Sam Walters (Alabama), Roddy Gayle Jr. (Ohio State), Tre Donaldson (Auburn), Danny Wolf (Yale) and Rubin Jones (North Texas) – as well as three freshmen: L.J. Cason, Howard Eisley Jr., Phat Phat Brooks and Justin Pippen.

May will take the new-look Wolverines to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Feb. 8 to face Indiana, which also went through significant changes in the transfer portal going into coach Mike Woodson's fourth season.

“Once I saw the guys that coach Woodson was able to get this year and the team they've put together, I've tried not to think about that game.”

Although it's been 24 years since May was part of the Indiana basketball program, there are a few things that stuck with him from his time under Knight.

"As an assistant coach, I don't think I used a lot of what coach Knight did and said. But immediately after becoming a head coach, I caught myself saying a lot of his expressions and phrases and thinking about a lot of the things that he talked about," May said.

"But most importantly, his ability to take complex concepts and make them seem simple, make players understand in a quick, efficient manner. Efficiency of language, outside of the four-letter words and stuff that he was very adept at. But I learned so much. There's no question, I wouldn't be here today without the coaches I grew up playing for, and then just being around coach Knight every day."

May attended Eastern Greene High School in Bloomfield, Ind., less than 20 miles from Indiana's campus. Returning to Bloomington in February will be May's first time facing the Hoosiers as a head coach.

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