Image Credit: Tim Casey/UAA

After two years with the Florida Gators, head basketball coach Mike White will have to deal with his first staff shakeup as lead assistant Dusty May has been hired as the new head coach of the FAU Owls.

May, who served as White’s associate head coach at Louisiana Tech, was a candidate to replace him with the Bulldogs but instead took the lead role on White’s initial Gators staff. He spent six seasons at Louisiana Tech — four under White — with prior stops at Indiana, Eastern Michigan, Murray State and UAB.

“Dusty has been an incredibly important part of every aspect of our program at both LA Tech and UF. He’s got incredible passion, has a relentless work ethic, operates with integrity, and possesses family values that permeate the program,” White said in a statement posted to Twitter.

White’s assistant coaching staff now includes Jordan Mincy and Darris Nichols, who have each coached with him for four seasons.

One would expect White to hire an experienced, veteran coach to replace May, preferably one who has experience coaching up big men, an area of developmental deficiency for Florida since White took over the team.

May is the second former Gators senior staffer hired by Owls basketball in recent years after director of operations Matt McCall was brought in as an FAU assistant (2008-11) prior to taking the same job under Billy Donovan back at Florida (2011-15). Sidney Green, the father of Gators standout point guard Taurean Green, has also previously served as head coach of the Owls.