The Final Four tips off on Saturday with Illinois facing Connecticut in one national semi-final (6:09 p.m. ET, TBS/TNT/truTV) and Michigan meeting Arizona in the other (8:49 p.m. ET, TBS/TNT/truTV).
While the Florida Gators failed to make the Final Four and defend their national title, the Sunshine State is well represented among the remaining teams.
Michigan has the most Florida connections. Wolverines’ head coach Dusty May was an assistant at Florida from 2015-2018 and then head coach at FAU from 2018-2024, taking the Owls to the Final Four in 2023. In his time at Florida, the Gators reached the Elite Eight in 2017.
Michigan assistant Akeem Miskdeen was an assistant at FAU from 2018 to 2021 and spent one season as an assistant at Florida from 2021 to 2022. Assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church was the Director of Basketball Operations at UF from 2015 to 2018 and came with May to FAU and then to Michigan. Among the other Michigan connections, freshman guard/forward Ricky Liburd is from Hollywood and attended Sagemont Prep. Guard L.J. Cason from Lakeland Victory Christian Academy. Michigan guard Charlie May, the coach’s son, attended Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton.
Other connections on the Wolverines’ staff include assistant coach and director of player development, Drew Williamson, who worked with May at FAU. Brandon Gilbert, special assistant to the head coach, was at Florida from 2011 to 2014 when the Gators made two Elite Eight runs and a Final Four appearance. He followed May to FAU in 2018, then Michigan.
Matt Aldred was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Florida in 2017-18 when May was there.
UConn forward Alex Karaban went to IMG Academy in Bradenton. After beginning his high school career in New England, Karaban transferred to IMG Academy for one semester before moving on to begin his college career with the Huskies.
Arizona guard Jackson Cook, an Oxford, England native, graduated from Monteverde Academy, playing in 16 games during the 2022-23 season, helping Montverde earn the top seed at the national high school tournament.
