INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 North Carolina\u2019s next men\u2019s basketball coach will not be Dusty May.<\/p>\n
The Michigan coach has removed himself from the search, according to multiple sources familiar with the process. ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel first reported the news Sunday. May is in the midst of a national title run with Michigan, which will play for the national championship against UConn on Monday night. On Friday, before his Michigan team beat Arizona in Saturday\u2019s national semifinals, May declined to entertain a question about the UNC job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m never going to comment on any job that I don\u2019t have,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s well documented how happy I am at Michigan.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously my private life, my personal life, my family, their happiness is very important. Yeah, I love it at Michigan, but you\u2019ll never hear me comment on any other job unless Michigan lets me go and then I\u2019ll comment on every job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michigan making the championship game alone would have made it hard for May to consider leaving, though it would not have been unprecedented. Roy Williams was once in the same position and left Kansas for UNC a week after losing in the national title game to Syracuse in 2003 and telling CBS reporter Bonnie Bernstein, \u201cI could give a s\u2014 about North Carolina right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
May\u2019s current contract runs through 2030 with a $7 million buyout if he were to leave before April 30, 2026. With his success through two seasons \u2014 a 63-13 record, Big Ten tournament and regular-season titles and, potentially, the program\u2019s first national title since 1989 \u2014 it\u2019s hard to believe that May will consider another college job.<\/p>\n
The 49-year-old is set up to have Michigan positioned as one of the prominent programs for years to come. The Wolverines could return a top-five roster with contributors Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara potentially back, along with the current second-best recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite, highlighted by five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr., who committed on Sunday. Johnson and Mara could both potentially leave for the NBA, but May has proven to be one of the best roster builders in his two years at Michigan.<\/p>\n