Florida Gators head basketball coach Michael White has completed his first coaching staff, hiring longtime assistant Dusty May in what is expected to be lead role.

May, White’s associate head coach at Louisiana Tech, is no longer a candidate to replace him with the Bulldogs and has instead joined his initial Gators staff.

White said at his introductory press conference on Monday that he was leaving an assistant spot open for May, who was interviewing for the Louisiana Tech position.



May spent six seasons with the Bulldogs, four under White and his last one with the title of associate head coach. His prior experience included stops as an undergraduate student manager and staff member (2002-05) at his alma mater Indiana, and assistant coach at Eastern Michigan (2004-05), Murray State (2006-07) and UAB (2007-09).

He is the third assistant and fourth staff member that White is bringing with him from Louisiana Tech to Florida.

Assistants Jordan Mincy and Darris Nichols joined White’s staff in the same role.

A Memphis, Tennessee, native, Mincy played four years at Kent State and set the MAC record for most games played (135) at the time of his graduation. His first job out of college came as a graduate assistant at South Carolina, but he quickly returned to Kent State and spent two seasons (2010-12) at his alma mater as an assistant. Mincy then moved over to College of Charleston (2012-13) and Toledo (2013-14) before joining White’s LA Tech staff for the last season (2014-15).

A college guard just like White and Mincy, Nichols had a solid career at West Virginia (2004-08), averaging 10.8 points and nearly four assists in 34.7 minutes per game over his final two seasons while playing under John Beilein and Bob Huggins. Nichols helped lead the Mountaineers to the 2007 NIT Championship, 2006 Sweet 16 and 2005 Elite Eight. After a short stint overseas, he worked as a graduate assistant at WVU under Huggins.

From there, he worked as an assistant at Northern Kentucky (2011-13) and Wofford (2013-14) before joining White’s Louisiana Tech staff this past season at the suggestion of Andy Kennedy, the Ole Miss head coach and former Cincinnati assistant under Huggins.

White was forced to hire both Mincy and Nichols last year to fill two vacant spots on his coaching staff. When initially hired by Louisiana Tech, he retained May, who was already on staff and promoted to associate head coach.

On Monday, White also named Kyle Church his director of basketball operations. A Charlotte, North Carolina, native who worked as an assistant coach at Chipola College and graduate assistant at Ole Miss and Louisiana Tech, Church was promoted by White to director of basketball operations for the Bulldogs over the last two seasons.