May chooses Tar Heels over Hoosiers, family tradition

Sean May won't follow in his father's footsteps. Or his brother's. And his family name had everything to do with it.\nAfter spending the past few weeks thinking about which college he will attend, the Bloomington High School North standout verbally committed Sunday to play at the University of North Carolina. \nIn doing so, May turned down the chance to play alongside his older brother, Scott May Jr. a freshman walk-on at IU this season, and the opportunity to play at the same school where his father, Scott May, won a national championship and was the college player of the year in 1976. \nNorth athletics director Ralph Sieboldt, basketball coach Tom McKinney and May's mother, Debbie May, confirmed the report Monday.\nMay's father left a sky-high reputation in Bloomington, and Sean didn't want to be held to that standard, Debbie May said.\n"He would be expected to play like his father and have his father's image," Debbie May said Monday night. "He's going to be Scott May's son the rest of his life. He wants to be his own young man."\nSean May's decision comes after a recruiting process that began with five unofficial visits the Mays budgeted in August. May later trimmed his list of top choices to IU, North Carolina and Louisville, but said at IU's Midnight Madness Oct. 13 that he wasn't leaning toward any school. A week before that, May determined where he would play, but delayed telling anyone. Debbie May said her son knew where he would play after his visit to Chapel Hill, N.C.\n"He knew that was the place for him," Debbie May said. "The only bad thing was the distance."\nAt North Carolina, May will join fellow Bloomington native Jon Holmes, a Bloomington High School South graduate and UNC junior. May spent time with Holmes and fellow Tar Heel recruit Rashad McCants. Both McCants and May are ranked by many recruiting experts as two of the nation's top players. \nMay will be closer to Holmes, but further from his brother. Scott May Jr. declined comment Monday but said two weeks ago that he would support Sean's decision no matter what he decided. Debbie May said, unlike Sean, Scott Jr. has no problem dealing with the expectations left at IU by his father. \n\"He\'s good enough to play anywhere,\" Scott May Jr. said. \"We\'re best friends and we\'re extremely close. Of course, I\'d like for him to come to IU and room with me. But, I can\'t tell him where to go."\nIU recruits Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland did try to nudge Sean May into settling on the Hoosiers and said at Midnight Madness they were confident IU coach Mike Davis would land the prized recruit.\n"I think he's coming," said Wright, who made an official visit to IU with May in September. "I really do."\nWright thought wrong, and May will wear his father's No. 42 next season, but in Carolina blue instead of Hoosier crimson.\nOne more person weighed in on May's decision. May and his father visited Lubbock, Texas this weekend to discuss the decision with former IU and current Texas Tech coach Bob Knight. Debbie May said any hype surrounding the visit isn't necessary. \n"He went there to see a practice," Debbie May said. "Coach Knight has been in (Sean's) life since he was born. Did coach Knight say anything negative about coach Davis? No. Did coach Knight say anything negative about the IU program? No."\nDebbie May said Knight told Sean to carefully consider the varying systems used by his prospective schools and find the program that would best suit his development. \nSome recruiting analysts said May might have stayed put if Knight were still roaming the sidelines in Assembly Hall.\n"Knight might have gotten Sean May to stay home," Rivals Hoops.com publisher, Mike Sullivan, said. "If Knight's there, it's a different story."\nMay, who averaged 24.3 points and 12.3 rebounds at North last season, would have been IU's fourth verbal commitment and is UNC's third. IU has commitments from guards Wright and Strickland and forward Daryl Pegram. McCants and Raymond Felton, both backcourt players, and May have verbally committed to play for new North Carolina coach Matt Doherty. May will be asked to fill a void left by a pair of 6-foot-10 Tar Heels who will graduate this season -- Kris Lang and Brian Bersticker. \nSullivan said he doesn't anticipate May's decision to hurt IU's recruiting, and said the Hoosiers have done well to lure Wright, Strickland and Pegram. Sullivan said IU might head to the junior college ranks to find another frontcourt player to next year's class. Davis said Monday he will have next season's recruiting class filled by Nov. 14, the first day to officially sign players.\n"Basketball in Indiana will definitely get better, I can tell you that," Davis said. "It will get better"