Sean May, the Most Outstanding Player on Roy Williams’ 2005 National Championship team, is returning to Chapel Hill in the role of assistant to the director of player development, the school announced Monday via press release. The former Second Team All-American, who played parts of four seasons in the NBA and several subsequent years overseas, has reportedly long had his eye on returning to the collegiate ranks to try his hand at coaching. After 10 years of professional hoops, there really couldn’t be a better situation for him to pursue his next endeavor, under the tutelage of the man who brought the best out of him as a player, on the same campus where he achieved his greatest success.

Sean May, a UNC legend, is coming back to his alma mater. (AP)

Recruited by Matt Doherty in the Class of 2002, May stunned most recruiting observers when he chose North Carolina over his native Indiana, a school where his father Scott May had starred for Bob Knight’s undefeated squad in 1976. The beefy center, part of a star-studded class that also included Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants, missed the better part of his freshman season in Chapel Hill after sustaining a serious foot injury that required surgery. A disappointing 17-15 season led to Doherty’s ouster, leaving the door open for then-Kansas head coach Williams to return to his alma mater. The class including May improved drastically under Williams, culminating in a dominant year as juniors, winning the school’s first National Championship since 1993 and restoring North Carolina’s reputation among the nation’s basketball elite. May was the centerpiece of that team, leading it in scoring and rebounding and capping his collegiate career off with a pristine performance in the title game, going for 26 points and 10 boards while missing only a single shot in a five-point victory over Illinois.

At a burly 6’9″ in stature, May was a master at creating space with his body to create scoring angles over taller, more athletic defenders. Known for his exceptional hands and touch around the goal, the former star center could have an immediate impact with several of the current Heels, as this year’s team is loaded with a plethora of talented bigs. The most obvious project for May to initially undertake will be with junior Kennedy Meeks, the former McDonald’s All-American who will look to build on a very promising sophomore season when he was one of the best per-minute rebounders in the country. Meeks, who has remade his body since struggling with weight as a freshman, is a virtual carbon copy of May from a physical standpoint. If the new staffer can get Meeks’ game to mirror his own of a decade earlier, he may prove himself to be as outstanding a coach as he was a player; and, as such, he may be in line for another piece of jewelry come April.

Matthew Auerbach (70 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2015 at 8:01 am by Matthew Auerbach and is filed under acc, microsites. Tagged: Kennedy Meeks, matt doherty, north carolina, roy williams, sean may. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.