By David Peck

Brian May knows a little bit about Lovell basketball tradition. During his senior year of 1985-86 at Lovell High School, he was a key member of the Lovell Bulldog squad that first ended the Wyoming Indian Chiefs’ 50-game winning streak, then defeated the Chiefs again for the state title two months later.
May wants to bring his passion for the game of basketball to the court as the new coach of the Lovell Bulldogs boys squad.
The son of Jay and Evon May of Lovell, Brian May learned basketball from the likes of Ralph Winland and Gus Gerhardt, among others, and always had a desire to coach. He attended Northwest College for a while, then worked and served in the Wyoming National Guard while living in Lovell. During that time, he married Krystal NeVille of Byron and eventually returned to college at NWC, while holding down a job at American Colloid.
Eventually, he and Krystal made the decision to return to college and moved their young family to Laramie to finish their degrees. Krystal earned a degree in elementary education and Brian earned a Bachelor of Social Work in 2000, then went on to earn a Master of Science from the UW College of Education in counseling in 2002.
“I always had the goal of being a school counselor, even when I graduated from high school,” May said. “It was always in the back of my mind, and I felt while working at the plant that we just needed to go and do it. I like working with kids and wanted the opportunity to coach – it was a drive.”
May started his teaching and coaching career in the Guernsey-Sunrise school system, serving as the K-12 counselor and coaching middle school girls and boys basketball track for one year. The Mays then moved to Kingman, Ariz., where Brian worked in a ninth-grade school as a counselor and helped coach freshman football and freshman girls basketball and softball. Krystal also taught in Kingman.
The family moved home in 2005, and Krystal began teaching second grade at Lovell Elementary School, while Brian became the K-8 counselor for the Rocky Mountain Elementary and Middle School buildings in Cowley and Deaver.
During his three years at the Rocky Mountain schools, Brian coached freshman boys basketball and helped coach middle school track for two years.
In 2008, May was hired as the K-5 counselor at Lovell Elementary School and last year served as an assistant coach for the seventh-grade girls basketball squad. This year, he takes the reins of the varsity boys basketball team. Though it seems like quite a leap, May noted that he coached on varsity basketball staffs both in Kingman and at Rocky Mountain High School for Coach Michael Simmons.

Asked about his coaching philosophy, May said be believes in his players having a strong work ethic and a “coachable spirit.” And he puts emphasis on defense.
“I want my kids to be able to understand defense – have a defensive mentality and know what it means to play defense, both individually and as a collective group,” he said. “I have a strong belief in the kids developing a camaraderie in practice and outside of sports as a lifelong bond and friendship.”
May said he believes in his players understanding and working hard to play a strong man-to-man defense, but he will also implement zone defenses.
“If the kids understand the principle of a good man-to-man defense with the team concept, it helps them understand how to help each other out in both man and zone sets,” he said. “We will play a variety of defensive sets.”
At the other end of the court, May will run what he calls a “continuity offense,” which he said will require the players to learn spacing and be able to read what an opposing defense is giving them.
“We’ll also have a variety of different sets leading into our regular set offense,” May said. “The kids have got to understand how to seal, how to post, how to enter – understand where the defense is cheating and how to expose the defense. Our transition offense is a big piece of how we get into our set offenses.”
Despite witnessing a lot of open gym during the summer, May said he is still learning where his new team’s strengths and weaknesses are, but he knows a solid foundation was built by former coach Joe Koritnik. He said he will count on returning assistant coach Chris Edwards to help with that learning process.
His brother Robert J. May is the freshman coach, and former player Hyrum Checketts is helping as a volunteer assistant.
May said his goal is for his players to work hard, understand the game and develop a high basketball IQ, adding, “When they reach that point, that’s when basketball becomes fun.”
The new coach said he well understands the basketball tradition at Lovell High School, and as he thought ahead, he said simply, “It’ll be fun.”
The Bulldogs open the 2009-10 season Dec. 4-5 at the Big Horn Basin Shootout in Greybull, Burlington and Basin.