A new face has joined the Baker University athletic staff as Jimmy May was named Baker’s first wrestling coach in school history.
May left a legacy in his native state of Nevada and came to Baker to develop the program, which is set to begin competition in the fall of 2009. Athletic Director Dan Harris said May brings important components of passion and skill to the job.
“He’s very mature and experienced,” Harris said. “He’s got 32 years of high school and two years of college experience, and I think maturity is very important in order to come in and start a program.”
May will leave behind what is known in Nevada as the “Dynasty in the Desert,” which refers to his 12 Nevada state championships in 20 years at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas. He also coached 63 individual state champions, 19 high school All-Americans, and the wrestling facility at Eldorado High School was named in his honor.
May said he was ecstatic after receiving news of his new position at Baker.
“My dream was to be a head college coach, and I feel real grateful that I had this opportunity.”
In addition to his high school coaching experience, May spent two years as the assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has spent the last few years as a coaching mentor to schools in the Las Vegas area. May’s roots extend to the Midwest as he was a graduate of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo. While wrestling at UCM, May was a two-time All-American and became inducted into the UCM Wrestling Hall of Fame for his success. May said he expects to arrive in Baldwin City this week, where he will then begin a year of development.
“It’s going to be exciting, and I’m a little bit nervous about it, too,” he said. “But if you’re not a little bit nervous, then you’re not focused on what you’re doing. It’s going to be a good change for me.”
May said he will face many challenges as he begins forming the Wildcat wrestling program.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult,” he said. “We have to raise some money to get some quality wrestlers and student athletes. Finding those people is going to be a challenge and finding creative ways to get them to Baker from a scholarship standpoint.”
May said he plans to recruit his athletes from three sources: the National Collegiate Athletic Association level, junior college athletes and the biggest amount will come from high school wrestlers. Harris said he has no doubts about May’s recruiting tactics.
“He’s done a lot of high school recruiting,” Harris said. “I think he will be a strong recruiter because he understands the dynamics of a successful wrestling program.”
Besides financial concerns, May said he is also worried about not having a facility or mat for the wrestling team. Although he anticipates using Mabee Gym for a starting spot, May said he envisions something specifically for the program two to three years down the road.
“I’m going to work with Mr. Harris closely with that,” he said. “We want to be a competitive program and a good wrestling room is very important, so we will see how those things come into play.”
Despite these challenges, Harris said May has one major benefit.
“An advantage that he will have is that developing this program is very important to me, and I will be there every day to help it happen,” he said.