Sean May

For the sprinter, see Sean Maye.

Sean May

May in action for Orléans Loiret in 2015
North Carolina Tar Heels
Position	Assistant coach
League	Atlantic Coast Conference
Personal information
Born	(1984-04-04) April 4, 1984 (age 40) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	266 lb (121 kg)
Career information
High school	Bloomington North (Bloomington, Indiana)
College	North Carolina (2002–2005)
NBA draft	2005: 1st round, 13th overall pick
Selected by the Charlotte Bobcats
Playing career	2005–2015
Position	Power forward
Number	42
Coaching career	2015–present
Career history
As player:
2005–2009	Charlotte Bobcats
2009–2010	Sacramento Kings
2010–2011	Fenerbahçe Ülker
2011–2012	Zagreb
2012	Sutor Montegranaro
2012–2013	Paris-Levallois
2014	SPO Rouen
2014–2015	Orléans Loiret
As coach:
2015–2017	North Carolina (player personnel)
2017–2021	North Carolina (DBO)
2021–present	North Carolina (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
French League Best Scorer (2013) French Cup Final MVP (2013) French Cup winner (2013) Turkish League champion (2011) Turkish Cup winner (2011) NCAA champion (2005) NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (2005) Consensus second-team All-American (2005) First-team All-ACC (2005) Second-team All-ACC (2004) No. 42 honored by North Carolina Tar Heels First-team Parade All-American (2002) USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2004) Indiana Mr. Basketball (2002) McDonald's All-American (2002)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Men's basketball Representing   United States FIBA Americas U20 Championship 2004 Halifax National team

Sean Gregory May (born April 4, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant basketball coach at the University of North Carolina. May was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He was a three-time all-state selection at Bloomington High School North, and was at one time a teammate of former NBA player Jared Jeffries. May was named to the 2002 McDonald's High School All-American team. He played in the 2002 McDonald's game with Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants, who would later team with May to win an NCAA Championship as part of the 2004–05 North Carolina Tar Heels.

College career

When the highly recruited May chose to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it was a major surprise to most basketball recruiting observers; it had been thought that he would stay in his hometown and play for the Indiana University Hoosiers. He had strong family connections to IU; his father Scott was a forward on the school's undefeated 1975–76 NCAA championship team and won the Naismith Award the same year, and his brother Scott Jr. played for the Indiana basketball team that made the NCAA title game in 2002.

At North Carolina, May made his mark as the starting center for the Tar Heels basketball team from 2003 to 2005. As a junior, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA tournament after leading North Carolina to its fourth national championship. The Tar Heels defeated the University of Illinois by a score of 75–70 to win the title, with May scoring 26 points on 10–11 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds. ^[1] May and his father are one of four father-son duos to each win an NCAA basketball championship. ^{[note 1] [2]} May graduated from the University of North Carolina in August 2009 with a B.A. in African-American studies. ^[3]

Professional career

Charlotte Bobcats (2005–2009)

In April 2005, May declared that he would forgo his senior year at UNC to enter the NBA draft. He was selected 13th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming one of a record four Tar Heels to be lottery picks in the 2005 NBA draft. He started his professional career strongly by being named MVP of the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league. An injury in December, however, cut his rookie season short.

On October 5, 2007, May announced that he had decided to have micro fracture surgery on his right knee, consequently missing the entire 2007–08 NBA season. ^{[4] [5]} The effects of the surgery affected him the following season (2008–09), as he experienced conditioning problems, ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]} tiredness ^[11] and tendinitis. ^[12]

On December 30, 2008, May was deemed physically unfit to play, making Bobcats coach Larry Brown place him on the inactive list for the foreseeable future. ^[5]

On June 23, 2009, ESPN News reported that the Charlotte Bobcats declined to make a qualifying offer for the fourth year of his rookie contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. ^[13]

May with Paris-Levallois

Sacramento Kings (2009–2010)

On July 21, 2009, May signed a one-year contract for $884,881 with the Sacramento Kings contingent upon him passing his physical. ^[14]

On August 9, 2010, he signed a one-year contract with the New Jersey Nets. ^[15] However, he suffered a stress fracture to his left foot in preseason training and was released on September 7. ^{[16] [17]}

International (2010–2014)

On November 22, 2010, May signed with Fenerbahçe Ülker of Turkey for the 2010–11 season. ^[18]

On October 1, 2011, he signed with KK Zagreb of Croatia. ^[19] In February 2012, he left Zagreb and moved to Italy to sign with Sutor Basket Montegranaro. ^[20] In April 2012, he got injured and missed the rest of the season. ^[21]

On July 18, 2012, May signed a two-year deal with Paris-Levallois Basket of France. ^[22] This reunited May with his former college teammate Jawad Williams. ^[23] In the 2013–14 season, he played only one game because of injury.

On November 24, 2014, May signed with SPO Rouen Basket. ^[24] On December 30, 2014, he left Rouen and signed with Orléans Loiret Basket for the rest of the season. ^[25]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005–06	Charlotte	23	1	17.3	.409	.000	.766	4.7	1.0	.7	.5	8.2
2006–07	Charlotte	35	8	23.9	.500	.667	.768	6.7	1.9	.5	.7	11.9
2008–09	Charlotte	24	12	12.5	.398	1.000	.700	2.9	.4	.2	.2	3.9
2009–10	Sacramento	37	4	8.9	.459	.000	.656	1.9	.5	.3	.2	3.3
Career		119	25	15.7	.458	.231	.746	4.0	1.0	.4	.4	6.9

EuroLeague

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2010–11	Fenerbahçe Ülker	8	0	12.2	.406	.000	.727	2.8	.5	.5	.3	4.3	4.1
2011–12	Zagreb	9	8	29.2	.455	.333	.692	6.4	1.1	.6	.3	11.7	11.3
Career		17	8	21.2	.442	.292	.703	4.7	.8	.5	.3	8.1	7.9

College statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2002–03	North Carolina	11	10	28.0	.472	.000	.575	8.1	1.0	1.5	1.8	11.4
2003–04	North Carolina	29	29	28.9	.463	.000	.689	9.8	1.4	1.4	1.2	15.2
2004–05	North Carolina	37	36	26.8	.567	.000	.758	10.7	1.7	1.2	1.0	17.5
Career		77	75	27.8	.513	.000	.717	10.0	1.5	1.3	1.2	15.8

Back to North Carolina

In fall of 2015, May was hired as the director of player development at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. ^[26] He served in the position for two years, and thereafter transitioned to the role of Director of Basketball Operations in fall of 2017. ^{[27] [28]}

In April 2021, head coach Roy Williams retired and was replaced by Hubert Davis. On April 15, May received a promotion from the Director of Basketball Operations position, moving into one of the three on-the-bench assistant spots for Davis' inaugural UNC staff. ^[29]

Notes

1. The others are Marques and Kris Johnson, Henry and Mike Bibby, and Derek and Nolan Smith.

References

1. Tar Heels win first national title since 1993
2. "Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler and a Crystal Ball Oliver Purnell Pursuing Greener Pastures Roy Halladay Deal Good for Baseball?". ESPN.com. April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014.
3. Alesia, Mark (April 2, 2010). "They can play, but do they graduate?". Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2015. Sean May entered the NBA after three years in college, capped by an NCAA title in 2005. He graduated last summer.
4. Bobcats F Sean May will undergo micro fracture surgery on right knee, miss season, October 5, 2007
5. Brown holding oft-injured May out until he's in better shape
6. Jazz-Bobcats Preview, "Sean May was active Tuesday for the first time since the season opener after Brown criticized his conditioning following knee surgery"
7. Paul's fifth-straight 20-10 game to start season not enough for Hornets "Sean May was inactive for the fourth straight game as he works on his conditioning. When asked if May is getting closer, Brown said 'a little bit.'"
8. Bosh's double-double helps Raptors edge past Bobcats "Charlotte kept Sean May on the inactive list for a fifth straight game for what Brown had previously said were 'conditioning issues.'"
9. Turkoglu scores 20 as Howard struggles in Magic win, "Brown said that May--who missed the 2007-08 season after having surgery on his right knee, and was held out of five straight games this season for "conditioning issues"--wasn't at the level he needs to be yet. "He's not ready to play like he's capable of playing," Brown said"
10. Bobcats closing in on Juwan Howard to help frontcourt "Sean May has been starting at power forward despite coach Larry Brown's concerns about his conditioning following knee surgery last year."
11. Okafor has 25 points, 13 rebounds in Cats' win over Thunder "Sean May was tired--again. Only this time, May had finally been effective for the Bobcats after months of slogging up the court in poor shape following knee surgery."
12. Bobcats without Wallace vs. Heat "Sean May is expected to play against the Heat despite being slowed by tendinitis in his surgically repaired right knee."
13. "Bobcats won't tender offer to May". ESPN . June 24, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
14. "Kings and Sean May May Agree to Contract in Principle". NBA.com . July 21, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
15. "Nets Sign Free-Agent Forward Sean May". NBA.com . August 9, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
16. "Nets Waive Sean May". NBA.com . September 7, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
17. "Injury leads to Sean May's release". ESPN . September 7, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
18. "Fenerbahce Ulker brings in big man May". Euroleague.net. November 22, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
19. "KK Zagreb signs center May". Euroleague.net. October 1, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
20. "Sutor Montegranaro tabs former NBA big man Sean May". Sportando.com. February 14, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
21. "Sutor Montegranaro, Sean May is done for the season". Sportando.com. April 16, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
22. "Paris-Levallois officially signs Sean May". Sportando.com. July 18, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
23. "Former Tar Heels May, Williams find success in France". newsobserver.com. March 10, 2013. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
24. "Rouen announces Sean May". Sportando.com. November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
25. "Sean May signs with Orleans". Sportando.com. December 30, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
26. "Sean May Joins UNC Staff". scout.com. October 27, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
27. "Sean May". GoHeels.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
28. Fowler, Chapel (July 6, 2018). "'Doing what I love to do': The newest chapter of Sean May's UNC basketball career". Daily Tarheel. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
29. "Davis Names Four Former Tar Heels to Basketball Staff". GoHeels.com. April 15, 2021.

External links

• Career statistics from NBA.com  and  Basketball Reference
• North Carolina Tar Heels bio
• FIBA.com profile
• Euroleague.net profile