Donald John May is an American professional basketball player who, while in college, was chosen as 2× Consensus second team All-American and, in a subsequent career which lasted from 1968 to 1975, became National Basketball Association champion.
Background
Don May was born in Ohio"s sixth largest city, Dayton, one of seven children of Edward S. May and Stella (Streit) May, and attended Belmont High School, where he played alongside another future college All-American and National Basketball Association player, Bill Hosket.
Education
The 6"4" forward attended the hometown University of Dayton.
Career
The two once combined for 88 points in one game (50 by Hosket, 38 by May). Belmont captured the 1964 Ohio state championship with ease, winning the state semifinal and final by 24 and 29 points, respectively. Coached by John Ross, the Bison went 26-1 (with the loss in overtime after both May and Hosket fouled out) and May and Hosket were the first teammates ever to be named first-team All-Ohio.
As a sophomore in 1965-1966, he averaged 20.3 points and 11.4 rebounds per game as the Flyers went 23-6 and advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament Sweet Sixteen.
In his junior year of 1966-1967, May increased his averages to 22.2 points and 16.7 rebounds per game as the Flyers went 25-6 and May was named consensus second-team All-American. The Flyers advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament Final Four where, led by May"s 34 points and 15 rebounds, they defeated the University of North Carolina.
In the National Collegiate Athletic Association title game, the Flyers fell to University of California, Los Angeles and future hall-of-famer Lew Alcindor despite May"s 21 points and 17 rebounds. May as a senior averaged 23.4 points and 15.0 rebounds per game as the Flyers went 21-9.
He was Most Valuable Player of the 1967-1968 National Invitation Tournament (National Institute of Technology), in which Dayton defeated the University of Kansas and its star guard Jo Jo White in the title game.
May was again a consensus second-team All-American. May"s 1,980 career points and 1,301 rebounds are both second in Dayton history. May was selected in the third round of the 1968 National Basketball Association Draft by the New York Knicks as well as in the third round of the 1968 American Bar Association Draft by the Indiana Pacers.
He signed with the Knicks.
May was elected to the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974 and to the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2010, he attended the 40th anniversary celebration of the New York Knicks 1970 National Basketball Association championship season.
Membership
May played seven seasons (1968–1975) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the New York Knicks, Buffalo Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Kansas City-Omaha Kings.