May Selected to Lead Hart Program : Prep basketball: El Camino Real High graduate named to replace Greg Herrick after a four-month search.

Hart High on Thursday ended a four-month search to name a boys’ basketball coach with the selection of Mike May, a former coach at Colton High.

May, 36, was chosen from a list of about 20 applicants to succeed Greg Herrick, who resigned in April after five seasons.

“It was a long process,” Hart Principal Laurence Strauss said. “I agreed with his personal views on coaching and young people in general, and I would put that first.”

May is a 1974 graduate of El Camino Real High, where he was an All-City Section guard. He led Colton to a 13-11 record last season--the team’s first winning record and first playoff berth since 1974.

Colton finished third in the San Andreas League with a 6-4 record. May coached at Colton for five years.

“I think (Hart is) a program that gets some good talent and plays a good level of basketball,” May said. “And it’s a very nice area. I plan to move out there.”

May will teach at Placerita Junior High in Santa Clarita until a teaching position is available at Hart, Strauss said.

May played one season at Pierce College in 1975 and earned All-Metro Conference honors. He later attended Brigham Young and graduated from the school in 1984.

May played one season at Brigham Young, starting at guard and leading the team in steals and assists. May’s BYU record of 16 assists in a game still stands.

Herrick resigned to become head women’s basketball coach at College of the Canyons after a sometimes rocky relationship with Strauss.

Last season, Herrick was given a one-game suspension by Strauss for shouting at an official after a game. Herrick is appealing the suspension through the William S. Hart Union High School District.

Hart won its second consecutive Foothill League title last season, posting a 17-10 record and an 8-2 league mark.