Michigan hires former SEC standout, FAU staffer K.T. Harrell as director of basketball operations
Michigan Wolverines basketball first-year head coach Dusty May has made an additional hire to his staff, bringing in director of basketball operations K.T. Harrell. The new staffer worked with May in the same role over the past two seasons at Florida Atlantic.
“It was a joy to work with KT over the last two years,” May said in a statement. “His ability to connect and communicate with the players is a tremendous asset. After a standout collegiate and professional career, he is an up-and-coming young coach. We are thrilled he and his family have joined us at Michigan.”
“My family and I are very excited about the opportunity to work at a prestigious institution like the University of Michigan,” said Harrell. “It has been an amazing experience to work with Coach May over the past two years and to rejoin him makes me very thankful. His dedication to the game and, more importantly, his players is unmatched. I look forward to supporting him, this amazing staff, and our players in our pursuit of excellence on and off the court.”
Florida Atlantic enjoyed its two winningest seasons in program history with Harrell as part of the staff, winning 35 games and making the Final Four in 2022-23 and tallying 25 victories in 2023-24.
May was hired by Michigan in March, replacing Juwan Howard. He’s since brought with him two other coaches from Florida Atlantic in Kyle Church (assistant coach and general manager) and Drew Williamson (assistant coach and director of player development). Assistant Akeem Miskdeen spent time with May at Florida Atlantic but most recently coached at Georgia. Justin Joyner (St. Mary’s) and Mike Boynton Jr. (Oklahoma State) came from outside May’s coaching tree.
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A Montgomery, Ala., native, Harrell played college basketball at Virginia (2010-12) and Auburn (2012-15). He averaged 18.4 points per game throughout his Auburn career, ranking sixth all time in program history. He also stands second in free throw percentage (83.9 percent) and sixth in three-point percentage (40.0%). Harrell earned All-SEC honors in 2015 after finishing as the SEC scoring champion that season.
The Michigan staffer began his career in coaching in 2020, spending two seasons as a graduate assistant under head coach Bruce Pearl at his alma mater, Auburn.
May shared his philosophy for hiring coaches while appearing on The L.A.B podcast in April.
“They have to be men that are going to pour into the players and it’s not a job where they go home and leave it behind,” May said of his Michigan co-workers. “And the staff is not going to be 20-hour-day guys, but we’re going to be consumed with helping our players 24/7, 365.”
