The University of Michigan's Dusty May has agreed to become the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, according to sources that spoke to ESPN's Shams Charania, Adam Schefter, and Pete Thamel. This comes a little over a month after the Mavs named former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri as the team's president and alternate governor.
Dusty May just completed his second season as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, where he led the program to its first national championship since 1989. Beyond winning the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines went 37-3 and were the 2025-26 Big Ten regular-season champions.
May is the first college basketball coach to make the leap to the NBA since John Beilein became the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019 after a 12-year stint at the University of Michigan. That hiring turned out to be a colossal failure since Beilein resigned from that position in February of 2020. Since then, no basketball coach has been hired as an NBA head coach directly from college up until today.
At 49 years old, Dusty May has been a college basketball coach for seven years. From 2018 to 2024, he coached the Florida Atlantic Owls, where he made two straight NCAA Tournaments and a Final Four appearance. Following the 2023-24 season, May was hired as the head coach of Michigan, where he amassed a 64-13 record over two years.
An exciting move for the Mavericks
Amazingly, there have only been 10 head coaches in Dallas Mavericks history. Since 2008, the Mavs have only had two coaches: Jason Kidd (2021 to 2026) and Rick Carlisle (2008 to 2021). Not to mention, this is only the time in franchise history where the Mavericks hired a head coach directly from college. It's fair to say that this is an unprecedented move for Dallas.
This will undoubtedly impact the Mavericks' draft strategy. Considering they have two first-round picks, it wouldn't be surprising to see them package those picks in a trade so that they can move up and take a former Michigan player. Since Dallas plays in the same division as the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, it would make a lot of sense if they tried to move up to take center Aday Mara. Then again, they might stay put and take Yaxel Lendeborg.
This move also indicates the Mavericks might prioritize youth over experience. We just saw Dusty May lead a group of young men to a national championship in his second season with the Michigan Wolverines, meaning the guy has a penchant for coaching up young talent. Dallas already has a foundational core of Max Christie (23), Dereck Lively (22), and, of course, Cooper Flagg (19). Now that Dusty May is in the fold, the Mavs might be tempted to move on from older veterans with large contracts like Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton, and maybe even Kyrie Irving. That would free up cap space while allowing Dallas to acquire more draft capital to add younger talent.
Mavericks fans might not be thrilled with this hiring, but it’s also hard to feel negatively about this move. Dusty May has been one of the fastest-rising head coaches in the sport for a few years. In 2018, he was just an assistant coach at the University of Florida. Since then, he has had four NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Four berths, and a national championship, and all of those things have happened within the last four years! Also, Dusty May was better than the other head coaching options out there. If I had to choose between Doc Rivers, Billy Donovan, and Dusty May, I would happily take May because he has the potential to become one of the best coaches in the NBA. With Billy Donovan and Doc Rivers, you know that they’re not going to be able to get you over the hump and make a young team competitive. The Mavs shook things up by hiring May, who will probably not have a ton of success in his first season with Dallas. Regardless, the future looks bright in the Lone Star State.
