Fans of Indiana Hoosiers basketball are frustrated for many reasons.
In Year 1 of the Darian DeVries era, the Hoosiers fumbled away any chance of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament by going 1-6 down the stretch. Indiana has now missed out on March Madness in each of the last three seasons and in eight of the last ten years. For such a storied college basketball program, that is unacceptable.
Along with the Hoosiers enduring yet another disappointing season on the hardwood, IU fans are watching players and coaches from the Hoosier State become March Madness heroes for other teams. Most notably, Indiana native and Hoosier alum Dusty May has led the Michigan Wolverines to the National Championship game.
Indiana alum Dusty May leads Michigan to the National Championship game
Over the last few seasons, May has cemented himself as one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. His fist head coaching position came at Florida Atlantic 2018, and he burst onto the scene by leading the Owls to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022-23 and 2023-24, which included a trip to the Final Four in 2022-23 as a No. 9 seed.
May then made the move to Ann Arbor to become the head coach at Michigan in 2024. He found immediate success, leading the Wolverines to an overall record of 27-10 and an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen during the NCAA Tournament. This season, he has molded Michigan into a dominant force that is on the verge of a national title.
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May's Wolverines have been among the best teams in the country all season long, and have dominated in the NCAA Tournament. As the No. 1 seed out of the Midwest Region, Michigan has won its tournament games by 21 points over Howard, 23 points over Saint Louis, 13 points over Alabama, 33 points over Tennessee, and 18 points over Arizona in the Final Four.
Dusty May and Indiana: What could have been
As Hoosier fans know, May has strong ties to the state of Indiana. He was born in Terre Haute and graduated from Eastern Green High School in Bloomfield. He was then a team manager at Indiana under Bob Knight from 1996-2000, and was a video coordinator and administrative assistant for the Hoosiers from 2002-05.
When Indiana and Mike Woodson parted ways following the 2024-25 season, Dusty May was a name that floated around as a potential replacement. Given his Hoosier ties and elite success at both FAU and Michigan, it could have been a perfect fit.
But unfortunately for Hoosier fans, it never came to be.
Indiana hired Darian DeVries after a short stint at West Virginia, and the early returns have been underwhelming. Meanwhile, May has the Wolverines looking unstoppable and playing for a National Championship in Indianapolis on Monday night.
Watching May's elite success in Ann Arbor has Indiana fans thinking about what could have been. Hoosier fans are hungrier than ever for a March Madness run, and watching one of their own lead another Big Ten team to glory puts salt in the wound.