Sean Gregory May is a former American professional basketball player and
current assistant to the director of player development at his alma mater,
the University of North Carolina. May last played for Orléans Loiret Basket of
the French LNB Pro A. He 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 heavily-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. May and his
father are one of four father-son duos to each win an NCAA basketball
championship. May graduated from the University of North Carolina in August
2009 with a B.A. in African-American studies.
Professional career 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.
The effects of the surgery affected him the following season, as he experienced
conditioning problems, tiredness and tendinitis.
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. 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.
On July 21, 2009, May signed a one-year contract for $884,881 with the
Sacramento Kings contingent upon him passing his physical. On August 9, 2010,
he signed a one-year contract with the New Jersey Nets. However, he suffered a
stress fracture to his left foot in preseason training and was released on
September 7. On November 22, 2010, May signed with
Fenerbahçe Ülker of Turkey for the 2010–11 season.
On October 1, 2011, he signed with KK Zagreb of Croatia. In February 2012, he
left Zagreb and moved to Italy to sign with Sutor Basket Montegranaro. In April
2014, he got injured and missed the rest of the season.
On July 18, 2012, May signed a two-year deal with Paris-Levallois Basket of
France. This reunited May with his former college teammate Jawad Williams.
In the 2013–14 season, he played only one game because of injury.
On November 24, 2014, May signed with SPO Rouen Basket. On December 30, 2014,
he left Rouen and signed with Orléans Loiret Basket for the rest of the
season. Career statistics
= NBA = = Euroleague =
Back to North Carolina Sean now is the assistant to the
director of player development at North Carolina.
Notes References
External links Career statistics and player information
from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
Profile at official UNC athletics site FIBA.com Profile
Euroleague.net Profile