Now in his 15th season (no season was held in 2020-21 due to Covid-19) as the Cerritos College men’s basketball head coach, Russ May has led his teams to the post-season in nine of those seasons, including the 2022-23 season, where they went 19-10 before seeing their season come to an end with a loss to Copper Mountain College in double overtime. The Falcons earned the #9-seed for the Southern California Regional Playoffs after finishing in second place in the South Coast Conference South Division. The second place finish snapped a four-year streak where the team won or shared part of the title and fifth time in the last seven seasons.
May led his teams to five straight 20-win seasons from 2016-20 until Covid cancelled the 2021-22 season. Back in 2017-18 season, May and his squad came within minutes of advancing to the CCCAA State Championship game. Leading San Francisco City College, 73-60 with 8:30 left in the game, the Falcons were unable to hold the lead and saw their season come to an end with an 89-83 setback and finished the year at 27-6. In his 13 seasons, May has posted a 229-147 (.609) record with eight South Coast Conference championships and has been named the conference’s Coach of the Year three times.
In the summer of 2018, May was appointed the Interim Dean of Athletics and during the 2018-19 season, he led the team to South Coast Conference South Division title and the #5-seed for the Southern California Regional Playoffs. However, the Falcons saw their season end abruptly with a 66-61 loss at the hands of West Los Angeles College.
In his first season (2009-10), May had to work with a predominantly freshmen-laden team, but still guided the team to the South Coast Conference South Division championship and came close to advancing to the Second Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. Their year came to an end with a 67-65 loss to Mt. San Antonio College in the first round, and the team concluded with an 18-11 record. Their closest bid for a CCCA State Championship appearance prior to the 2017-18 season came during the 2013-14 campaign, when they were defeated in the third round and concluded the year with a 19-11 record.
May returned to Cerritos College after spending 10 years as the head coach of the Los Alamitos High boys’ basketball team. He was a finalist for the Cerritos job in 2008 before returning to the Falcon program in 2009 when the position re-opened and inherited a team that went 16-13 overall (including a forfeit win over Los Angeles City College) and won the conference title. May, who was also Los Alamitos High’s athletic director, resigned both positions to take over at Cerritos, where he played for two years (1989-91) and served as an assistant coach from 1994-99. May also teaches a full slate of classes at Cerritos College.
Under May, Los Alamitos won CIF crowns in 2006 (Division I-A) and 2007 (I-AA) and reached the Division I Southern California final in 2006. In 2008, the Griffins were seeded fourth in the Division I-AA playoffs before being upset by Lynwood in the second round. May also led his teams to nine league championships in his 10 seasons and was also named both the county and CIF Coach of the Year during his tenure with the Griffins.
As a player for the Falcons, May was a South Coast Conference Honorable Mention selection as a sophomore, despite missing the latter part of the season with a broken foot. The team won the conference title his freshman year, while they placed second his sophomore campaign. In his time as an assistant coach, the team won five straight conference championships and the state title in 1999, his final season as an assistant coach with the Falcons.
After graduating from Cerritos, May earned a scholarship to Cal Poly Pomona, where he played two more seasons. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from Cal Poly Pomona, his teaching credential from Cal State Long Beach and his Master’s degree from Azusa Pacific University.
May has three children; Madison, who graduated from Niagara Falls University after playing volleyball and then spent the 2018 season as an assistant coach on the Falcons volleyball, Everett, a sophomore on this year’s Falcons team, and Sydney a volleyball player at Los Alamitos High.
