Towson men’s basketball sophomore Christian May recently chatted with PressBox about his favorite memory from his freshman season, stepping into a bigger role this year and more. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 4.0 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Tigers in 2022-23. He shot 38.5 percent from 3-point range as well. May is a native of Edinburg, Va., and graduate of Bishop O’Connell High School.
PressBox: How did you first become interested in basketball?
Christian May: I became interested in basketball at a very young age. Both of my parents, [Tim and Becky], played basketball in college. They played D-III basketball [at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia]. But since I was a young kid, [I grew up] playing with the little Fisher Price basketball hoop that I had in my room when I was like 4 or 5. Ever since then, I just fell in love with it. Obviously my dad wasn’t opposed to it because he loved basketball, too. Just growing up shooting hoops in my back yard, and then eventually I think I was like third grade [when] I started playing AAU for a local AAU team around my area. And then I just really fell in love then, just loved the grind, just loved everything about it.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
CM: I’d say the biggest influence on my game is probably my first AAU coach, [Terry Jameson]. He’s the one that taught me everything — all the fundamentals of basketball, taught me how to work hard, how to be disciplined. I’d say my first AAU coach. NBA-player-wise, my favorite player growing up was Kobe. I watched him all the time. I looked up to him so much. I don’t think anybody loved the game like Kobe did, so obviously having him being on TV playing all the time was great for me as a young kid to watch because he’s one of the greats.
PB: How did playing in the WCAC in high school develop your game?
CM: Playing in the WCAC was an amazing experience, for sure. I’m so glad I did it because playing in that conference, honestly, I feel like it’s the best high school conference in the whole United States. Being able to play against high-major guys, D-I guys every single night, I mean, there’s no better way to prepare yourself for college. Every single game that you play in that league is a hard game against good players. There’s nothing better when you’re a good basketball player than going to play against the best competition every day, so it was great. Coming into college, it wasn’t a huge [adjustment] or anything for me. I was just glad to be prepared that way throughout high school. And the people you meet, too — there’s nothing better.
PB: Why did you choose to go to Towson?
CM: I chose to go to Towson because I feel like I had a great relationship with [Tigers head coach Pat Skerry]. Over my recruiting period, I feel like he recruited me the most anyone else and I felt like I had the best connection with him. And then also, they were a winning team when I committed here. They won [the CAA regular-season title in 2021-22], so I just love the culture here. It’s kind of close to home. It was honestly just my relationship with the coaching staff, though.
PB: What’s your favorite memory from your freshman season?
CM: My favorite memory from my freshman season will probably be our last conference game against UNC Wilmington. We just got done playing Charleston two days before. We were all not playing well the whole game. Everybody came out groggy and stuff. We were down a lot at the half, and then nobody really thought we were going to come back and win. That’s why Coach Skerry thought everybody was checked out at the beginning of the second half, but we all turned it up. I think I had one of my best defensive games of the year, and then I hit a big three [to tie the game with 2:01 left]. And then we ended up winning it. So I think that was one of my favorite memories just because we walked them down. Pretty much the whole second half, nobody thought we were going to win and I thought it was a great way to end our regular season going into the playoffs.
PB: What can you do to become a more consistent performer as a sophomore this year?
CM: Obviously, this year I have a different role than I had last year. Last year, I wasn’t even really worried about scoring that much. I was just doing what I had to do to stay in the game and help us win, but obviously this year I have a bigger role so just locking in on that offense, executing and still playing the way I did last year defensively, not trying to let anybody score on me. I feel like everything for our team this year is going to start on the defensive end and I feel like we’re going to be a great defensive team. That’s how we’re going to get a lot of our points on offense this year is from turnovers and stuff. I feel like if we all play defense consistently, my points and stuff shouldn’t really matter. I feel like it should stay pretty consistent.
PB: What’s it like to step into a bigger role with some productive players having moved on?
CM: Obviously, losing [Nicolas Timberlake and Cam Holden] and all of my other guys, it’s hard, but I’m not really that worried. I feel like we have another great team this year. Obviously stepping into a [bigger] role for me is new. I’ve got to get used to it, but I feel like I should be fine. Just learning stuff through practice, learning how to do new things that I haven’t done before, it’s been kind of hard, kind of a challenge, but I like a challenge. I’m excited. I wouldn’t want it any other way, so I’m glad that I have this opportunity to be in this role and I feel I’m going to take advantage of it.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Towson University?
CM: I would say my favorite thing about Towson University is just the culture we have on our team. I feel like the way we all interact with each other, nobody hates each other. Nobody dislikes each other. We all have a great connection. Every single one of my teammates is my brother. I can literally walk into their room any time and hang out with them and talk to them about anything. Just being able to know that every single person on my team [has] my back and I have their back, there’s just no better feeling than that. I would definitely say our culture.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Towson the town?
CM: I would say probably the food. We’ve got sneaky food places around. I like going to get good food, so I would probably say the food. … When it comes to burgers and stuff, I like Gino’s. That’s my favorite spot to go for burgers, and if you go on a Tuesday you get 20 percent off for being a student. That’s probably my favorite spot to go for a burger, but we’ve got a lot of chicken places and stuff.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
CM: I’m close with a lot of guys, but I would say one of my closest friends is probably Tyler Coleman just because I’ve known him for a while. We both went to [Paul VI]. My freshman and sophomore years I was there. We went to school together, so I’ve known him since then. It’s just crazy to see us both grow up and go to college and be able to go to college together is crazy. So I’d say that’s definitely my guy. Being able to be with him is definitely fun.
PB: Who did you look up to as a freshman last year?
CM: There were a lot of guys I looked up to, pretty much all the seniors that have been here because obviously they knew more than me. Obviously, I looked up to [Nicolas Timberlake] a lot since we kind of have a similar game and his stature and stuff as a player is impressive, so just being able to be under him, play under him, just soak up everything. All the guys last year really took me in and pretty much gave me advice about anything. I could name like five different guys that would just talk to me about the game and stuff and teach me, but I definitely looked up to Nick, probably the most.
PB: What advice would you have for younger players?
CM: I would just say it’s going to be challenging. If you’re a good player coming out of high school going into college you’re going to be like, “Oh, I’m going to just do the same exact thing I did in high school. It’s not going to be any different. I’m just going to come in and dominate.” For some players that may be true, but it’s hard for some players when they go to college and they don’t play as much as they did in high school. They don’t get as many shots. I would just say to just stay consistent. If you’re a good player, just keep working. Your time is going to come eventually. Don’t get discouraged because every single day you don’t know what’s going to happen, you might have your opportunity.
PB: What are your goals for after basketball, whenever it ends?
CM: I want to play basketball for as long as I can. It has to end one day, so my goal is just to be happy, just to live somewhere and be happy with my family. I don’t know, I just want to be happy, live in a nice location — maybe on the beach or something — have a good job that I like and just be close to my family.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox
Issue 283: October/November 2023
Originally published Oct. 18, 2023