New Dallas Mavericks head coach Dusty May responds to questions fro the media during an introductory press conference at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, June 29, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Dusty May’s gargantuan leap from the NCAA to the NBA was just an idea during last month’s draft combine.
The former Michigan coach made the trip to Chicago with the primary purpose of supporting his trio of lottery picks as they prepared for the NBA draft.
However, May left the Windy City with interest from Dallas Mavericks executives Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz for one of the league’s most intriguing head coaching vacancies. Last Tuesday, the Mavericks concluded their extensive month-long search by naming May their newest head coach.
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“I had full intentions of being back at Michigan no matter what,” May said Monday during his introductory news conference. “We had a great conversation that had nothing to do with this position.”
May is the man who led Michigan to its first national championship in 37 years, a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without his three best players in Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara, all of whom were selected in the first round of last week’s two-day draft.
Ujiri and Schmitz bumped into May during the combine and conversed about the three prospects since Dallas held the No. 9 pick — which resulted in the selection of Johnson. What came next was an overture about May’s potential interest in becoming the Mavericks’ next coach.
“My eyes went up and instantly I said, ‘This one checks all the boxes,’” May said.
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What exactly are those boxes, one might wonder?
The Mavericks have a new leadership structure under Ujiri and Schmitz alongside governor Patrick Dumont. May’s first impression of the Mavericks brass was their desire to be competitive and their sincere and “very healthy relationship.” He cited the roster’s healthy mixture of proven veterans and foundational young pieces, including Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively II, P.J. Washington and Max Christie.
Not to mention the benefits of living in Texas, he cited, since it has two international airports and has the benefits of having no state income taxes. However, one of the biggest draws to the new job was an emerging superstar in Cooper Flagg, who was one of three Mavericks in attendance for May’s news conference.
“I’ve never been in the NBA, but I have a lot of friends in the league,” May said. “I’ve studied the game. I’ve been to training camps for years, and a superstar who plays hard, who cares about his teammates, who’s incredibly unselfish, those things aren’t that common according to others.”
Flagg was recruited by Jon Scheyer to play at Duke during a time when May was head coach of Florida Atlantic, long before he transformation of the program into a national title contender, which limited how much May could interact with the high school phenom.
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“When you’re coaching at FAU and guys like Cooper are playing in one gym, you go to another gym and find some other guys,” May joked.
Despite his status as a neophyte NBA head coach, May arrives with 21 years of coaching experience at the college level, including eight as a head coach. In six seasons with FAU and two years with Michigan, he built a 190-82 coaching record with four NCAA tournament appearances and two Final Fours. He transformed both programs into championship contenders under his tutelage, which culminated into the Wolverines’ title run in April.
New Dallas Mavericks head coach Dusty May (right) arrives for his introductory press conference with President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri (left) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, June 29, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
May is well aware of the history that follows him into his new position as head coach of the Mavericks since only one coach has successfully coached a team to both an NCAA title and NBA championship: Larry Brown. The last college coach to make the leap was former Michigan coach John Beilein, who did not finish out his first season as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2019-20 season. There have been a couple of notable outliers such as Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan, but the track record for college coaches isn’t promising.
May doesn’t have NBA coaching experience, but he’s relying on his lead veteran in Irving, along with his coaching knowledge from the college level to guide him.
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“The game is closer than ever,” May said. “College, NBA, the G League, stylistically, they all look very similar if you’re playing modern basketball. And as far as all the other things, you’re never ready. It’s like being a parent. You’re never ready, but you hopefully prepared and done everything in your power to tackle all the challenges.”
May had also accomplished everything a coach could at the collegiate level, especially after leading the Wolverines back to championship prominence. It was once believed that May would be coaching Michigan “for many years to come,” especially after verbally agreeing to a new contract extension. He was asked if the current state of college basketball and how it functions as a professional league (with name, image and likeness and the transfer portal) was a primary factor in his jump to the professional level.
“The big reason is the people in this facility, first and foremost,” May said. “It’s much more complicated than it used to be. I love teaching. I love coaching. I love being part of a team. In college basketball, you don’t get to do nearly as much of that as you used to. There are some things that I’m not going to miss about college basketball, but I wouldn’t be there without our players and staff. I had an unbelievable 25, 27 years in college athletics but I’m excited for this opportunity.”
May’s first job as coach is to fill out his coaching staff. He expects to have a blended coaching staff with experience levels spanning the college and NBA ranks. He also plans to retain members from Jason Kidd’s staff, but did not disclose who those individuals would be. Ujiri said May will have his full support when it comes to filling out his staff.
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Most importantly, he’s trusting May to restore something that’s been missing around the franchise over the last two years.
“We want to bring joy back to basketball here,” Ujiri said. “It is a goal and I know we’re going to do it. And I know the beginning of this joy and goal starts here, with this guy that we welcome here as our basketball coach, Dusty May.”