The entire state of Indiana expected Sean May to follow in his father’s footsteps and play college basketball for the hometown Hoosiers.
May’s father, Scott May, starred on Indiana’s 1976 undefeated team that won the national championship but 25 years later his son shocked the local Bloomington, IN, community by announcing his commitment to North Carolina.
He was ostracized and made to feel a bit uncomfortable. But the thing is, nobody knew at the time that his choice was as much Indiana’s doing as his own.
“It was a strange process,” May said during his junior season at UNC. “(Indiana) Coach (Mike) Davis and I knew what needed to happen for me to go to Indiana and for some reason it didn’t happen - he didn’t want it to happen - and I ended up coming here, and this has been the best three years of my life.”
The Tar Heel State was pleased with how things turned out. May went to UNC and turned in a stellar career that was capped with him winning the Most Outstanding Player award at the 2005 Final Four leading the Tar Heels to the national championship. His play over the final two months of that season, which included a 26-point, 24-rebound effort in a win over Duke, was as strong as any Tar Heel had put forth in years.
The championship came two years after May’s freshman season in which he was mostly saddled with a broken foot, a reason the Heels played in the NIT. The following year, the Heels lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But by the time Carolina hit its stride in 2005, it was the best team in the nation, and proved it by beating Illinois in the national title game.
“We didn’t mesh well early in my career, it took us some time,” May recently said. “But three years later, you see where we were.”
May was named the Sports Illustrated National Player of the Year, was a first-team All-America by numerous services, East Region MOP in 2005, first-team All-ACC in 2005, second-team All-ACC in 2004.
He’s one of just seven Tar Heels to average a career double-double, scoring 15.8 points and grabbing 10.0 rebounds per game. He averaged 17.5 points and 10.7 rebounds as a junior, which is the third most rebounds in a season in UNC history with 397 in 2005.
His jersey No. 42 hangs in the Smith Center rafters.
“I’ve said this many times: Sean May was one of the five most intelligent guys I’ve ever coached,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “Sean played the five spot for us and he could have run any position in practice of any drill, he knew exactly what to do… In his (junior) year, I thought he was the best player in college basketball.”
Professionally, he was a first-round pick in the NBA draft in 2005 and played five years in the league and several years overseas, winning championships in France and Turkey and earning the French Final MVP in 2013. He led the French league in scoring in 2013, as well.
May was also named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 2004.
More than the banners and jerseys hanging, the wins piled up and stats stuffed into box scores, May looks back as fondly about the relationships he built at UNC if not more than the successes.
“The bonds we built, that’s lasting,” May said. “I talk with those guys all the time. They mean more to me than just teammates I won a title with. They are my friends and always will be.”
