Because the second spherical of the 2024 NCAA Event continued into Saturday evening, a notable piece of stories away from the ground caught the eye of the collective faculty basketball world.
Dusty Could, the Florida Atlantic coach who turned essentially the most sought-after candidate on this 12 months’s teaching carousel, accepted the Michigan teaching place, the Detroit Free Press confirmed.
REQUIRED READING:Michigan basketball hires Dusty Could: Social media reacts to FAU coach leaving for Wolverines
After main Florida Atlantic to the Ultimate 4 final season, Could inhabited the function that Brad Stevens and Shaka Good did final decade as a mid-major coach who was extremely coveted by packages throughout faculty basketball’s predominant conferences.
Following the Owls’ 77-65 additional time loss to Northwestern within the first spherical of the NCAA Event Friday, Could had his selection of suitors to pick out from, a bunch that reportedly additionally included Louisville and Vanderbilt.
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA match brackets, scores, schedules, groups and extra.
In the end, he selected Michigan, the place he’ll substitute Juwan Howard, a Wolverines legend as a participant who was fired after going 8-24 in 2023-24, setting a program document for losses in a season. Howard’s groups went 87-72 in his 5 seasons in Ann Arbor.
So what are the Wolverines getting of their new coach, the person entrusted to assist get the proud program again to common NCAA Event appearances and into constant Large Ten title competition?
Right here’s every thing it is advisable learn about Could:
REQUIRED READING:Dusty Could contract, buyout particulars as Michigan basketball hires Florida Atlantic coach
Who’s Dusty Could?
Could will arrive at Michigan following a six-year run at Florida Atlantic, which was his first head-coaching job.
Whereas he did admirable work with this system prior in his first 4 seasons, he turned one of many hottest names in faculty teaching after the Owls made a run to the 2023 Ultimate 4 as a 9 seed. Florida Atlantic entered that match having by no means gained a sport in faculty basketball’s marquee postseason occasion.
On that path to the nationwide semifinals, the Owls defeated 8 seed Memphis, 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson (which had upset 1 seed Purdue two days earlier), 4 seed Tennessee and three seed Kansas State. Within the Ultimate 4, Florida Atlantic got here inside a second of reaching the nationwide championship sport, however San Diego State’s Lamont Butler hit a jumper as time expired to provide his crew a 72-71 victory.
Could returned all of his high scorers from that crew, permitting the Owls to enter the 2023-24 season with a No. 9 rating within the preseason USA TODAY Sports activities Coaches Ballot. Florida Atlantic, which was enjoying its first season within the American Athletic Convention after transferring over from Convention USA, completed 25-9 this season and earned an 8 seed within the NCAA Event.
Dusty Could teaching document
In his six seasons at Florida Atlantic, Could’s groups went 126-69, together with a 60-13 mark in his closing two seasons.
Underneath Could, the Owls by no means completed a season under .500, a formidable feat at a program that had simply 5 successful seasons within the 25 years earlier than his hiring. Certainly, Florida Atlantic had been a perennial loser previous to Could’s arrival in 2018.
Regardless of having attracted confirmed coaches earlier in its historical past — amongst them, former North Carolina coach Matt Doherty, former St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis and former NBA coach Michael Curry — the Owls had made just one NCAA Event. The college had subpar amenities even relative to its friends. Could accepted the job with out having seen Florida Atlantic’s area, locker room and weight room. Upon seeing them, he felt immediate remorse, which he expressed to his spouse upon coming back from the college’s Boca Raton, Florida campus.
“I stroll within the room and I began crying and stated, ‘I simply dedicated profession suicide. I am not adequate. I am unable to do that,'” Could informed CBS Sports activities in March 2023.
Right here was Could’s year-by-year document at Florida Atlantic:
- 2018-19: 17-16 (8-10 Convention USA)
- 2019-20: 17-15 (8-10 CUSA)
- 2020-21: 13-10 (7-5 CUSA)
- 2021-22: 19-15 (11-7 CUSA)
- 2022-23: 35-4 (18-2 CUSA)
- 2023-24: 25-9 (14-4 American Athletic Convention)
REQUIRED READING:Juwan Howard noticed at Michigan ladies’s basketball March Insanity sport after being fired
Dusty Could teaching profession
Previous to changing into Florida Atlantic’s head coach, Could spent 13 years as a full-time Division I assistant coach, most just lately at Florida and Louisiana Tech, the place he labored below present Georgia coach Mike White.
Right here’s a have a look at Could’s earlier teaching stops:
- 2005-06: Jap Michigan, assistant coach
- 2006-07: Murray State, assistant coach
- 2007-09: UAB, assistant coach
- 2009-15: Louisiana Tech, assistant coach
- 2015-18: Florida, assistant coach
- 2018-24: Florida Atlantic, head coach
Dusty Could age
Could is 47 years outdated, having been born on Dec. 30, 1976.
Dusty Could wage
In the course of the 2023-24 season, Could earned $1.25 million through the 2023-24 season, as reported by The Palm Seaside Submit in April 2023.
After main Florida Atlantic to the Ultimate 4, Could signed a 10-year contract extension that was introduced on April 8, 2023. Underneath the phrases of the deal, Could obtained a 5% pay increase annually, together with efficiency incentives:
- $250,000 for nationwide championship
- $150,000 for nationwide championship sport look
- $100,000 for Ultimate 4 look
- $75,000 for Elite Eight look
- $50,000 for Candy 16 look
- $30,000 for successful NCAA Event sport
- $25,000 for NCAA Event bid
Dusty Could buyout
Underneath the phrases of the 10-year extension Could signed final 12 months, Florida Atlantic could be owed $1 million if Could took a job elsewhere after Feb. 29, 2024.
Dusty Could Indiana
Although it’s in a state aside from Michigan, Could has intensive Large Ten expertise. If something, he was born and raised within the convention.
Could is from Solsberry, Indiana, and attended and performed basketball at Jap Greene Excessive in close by Bloomfield, Indiana. Could didn’t journey significantly far for school, heading solely 15 miles east to Bloomington, Indiana, the place he attended Indiana.
Whereas Could didn’t play basketball for the Hoosiers, he had an up-close have a look at this system, serving as a scholar supervisor for 4 years below then-coach Bob Knight.
“You’d see how a lot love former gamers had for him, and as a coach that is a testomony of getting ready them for all times and realizing that you simply actually, actually cared about them,” Could stated to The Palm Seaside Submit in November 2023 after Knight’s dying. “The people who labored for him have a bond. The principle purpose is due to how demanding he’s of everybody round him. That is why so many individuals had been ready to achieve success after they left.”