Michigan hires Dusty Might: FAU coach replaces Juwan Howard after main Owls to Ultimate 4 in 2023

Florida Atlantic coach Dusty Might, who lower his tooth in basketball teaching as a workforce supervisor for Indiana below Bob Knight within the Nineties, goes again to the Massive Ten. Might is now a Michigan man. 

Slightly extra 24 hours after his eighth-seeded FAU workforce was bounced within the first spherical of the 2024 NCAA Match by Northwestern, Might on Saturday agreed to a five-year contract to be the following coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Faculty president Santa Ono introduced the transfer shortly after CBS Sports activities reported Might’s resolution.

Might, 47, led FAU to consecutive NCAA Match appearances the final two seasons and to 60 whole wins in that span, together with a run to the Ultimate 4 in 2023 as a No. 9 seed. He leaves FAU after six years the place he had six successful seasons after inheriting a program that within the seven seasons previous to his arrival by no means completed above .500.

Might will succeed coach Juwan Howard, who was fired from his put up earlier this month following an 8-24 season. Howard was 87-72 in 5 seasons however simply 24-40 over his closing two years in Ann Arbor. Michigan completed the season final within the Massive Ten race at 3-17, this system’s first last-place end in practically six many years.

Given Might’s profile as one of many brightest rising coaches within the sport, he turned the prime goal for plenty of colleges. Michigan swooped in to snag Might amid what was a heated race of faculties hoping to land him, with Louisville and Vanderbilt additionally potential locations. Vanderbilt was severely thought-about, per a supply, however Louisville was finally the largest rival with Michigan. Why did U-M win out? Sources instructed CBS Sports activities that Might was enticed as a result of it wasn’t as pressurized of an setting as Louisville. Its place within the Massive Ten — and the convention’s monetary power because it embarks on a billion-dollar media rights deal in an 18-team panorama beginning later this 12 months — was additionally an element.

Whereas it was presumed for days by many in school basketball that Might would decide in at Louisville, the truth is that Might was unsure of his selection as late as early Saturday afternoon. In line with a supply, Might waited till Saturday night to make his resolution, finally saying sure to Michigan after he obtained sufficient affirmation that his values in teaching, program-building and NIL assets had been all in step with Michigan’s new methods within the post-Howard period. 

Might went 126-69 in six seasons at FAU and helped instill a tradition of successful to a spot with nearly no historical past of success in males’s basketball. The Owls had been a hyped workforce in 2023-24 after making the Ultimate 4 — incomes a top-10 preseason rating — however finally fell wanting expectations after incomes a No. 8 seed and shedding within the first spherical of the NCAA Match to Northwestern 77-65 in time beyond regulation on Friday. FAU completed 25-9 this season, its first within the American Athletic Convention.