Dusty May, coming off national title run with Michigan, agrees to become Mavericks head coach
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Andy BackstromContributing writerTue, June 23, 2026 at 7:38 PM UTC·5 min readDusty May's meteoric rise through the basketball ranks is continuing in a seismic way.
Following a two-season stay at Michigan, during which May masterfully maximized the transfer portal to return the Wolverines to prominence, he's agreed to become the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. The franchise announced his hiring on Tuesday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementLess than three months after leading Michigan to its first national title since 1989, May, 49, is making the leap to the NBA. Meanwhile, Michigan is working toward hiring current Wolverines assistant Mike Boynton Jr. as interim head coach, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Adam Schefter and Jeff Borzello. Boynton served as Oklahoma State's head coach from 2017-24, logging a 119-109 record and making one NCAA tournament.
Reports of May’s hiring arrived a day before the start of the NBA Draft. Three of May's now-former Michigan standouts — center Aday Mara, forward Morez Johnson Jr. and forward Yaxel Lendeborg — are expected to hear their names called Tuesday. Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor has all three of them going in the top 20 in his latest mock draft.
Regardless if May reunites with any of them in Dallas, the crown jewel on his new roster will undoubtedly be Cooper Flagg, the 19-year-old Duke product who just won NBA Rookie of the Year and is the centerpiece of the Mavericks' plans under new president and alternate governor Masai Ujiri.
After Ujiri took the reins last month, the former NBA championship-winning Toronto Raptors executive made the decision to move on from Jason Kidd as the Mavericks' head coach. While Flagg inspired optimism this past season, Dallas finished 26-56 and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
The Mavericks have plummeted in the Western Conference hierarchy after reaching the NBA Finals in 2024 and then infamously trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers the following season.
In a May 20 news conference, Ujiri said that deal, notoriously orchestrated by then-general manager Nico Harrison, played no part in his call to dismiss Kidd; however, Ujiri maintained that Dallas "needed a clean slate to go forward."
May is now part of that clean slate, along with new Mavericks GM Mike Schmitz.
As for Michigan, its championship defense is suddenly significantly threatened. With May's departure, it's possible players on the roster could look elsewhere. It's important to note that, per NCAA rules, a 15-day transfer window opens for players five days after a new head coach is hired or publicly announced at their school.
In addition to returning Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau and backcourt partner Trey McKenney, the Wolverines garnered portal commitments from former Cincinnati center Moustapha Thiam, former Tennessee forward J.P. Estrella and former LSU forward Jalen Reed.
May's ascension is well-documented. His path to coaching stardom began when he was a student manager under legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight. Although May gleaned Knight's work ethic and attention to detail, he ultimately adopted a coaching personality far different from the one the late Knight showcased. Instead of a fiery court general, May became a player's coach known for getting the best out of his players with undying support and creative basketball tactics.
But first he had to earn his stripes, slowly climbing a coaching ladder as an unknown in basketball world. Once he worked in administrative assistant and video coordinator roles at USC and then back at Indiana, May embarked on his next journey. From 2005-18, May held assistant gigs at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida prior to receiving his first head-coaching opportunity at age 41.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThat came at Florida Atlantic. In Year 5 of his tenure spearheading an Owls program that had made only one NCAA tournament before his arrival, FAU broke through with a head-turning run to the Final Four that put May on the map in 2023. He piloted the Owls back to March Madness the following season.
A hot commodity by that point, May continued to attract immense interest from programs looking to revamp. Michigan lured him back to the Midwest. In Ann Arbor, May resuscitated a proud program that wilted down the stretch of "Fab Five" star Juwan Howard's five-season turn at the helm.
In Howard's final go-round, Michigan went 8-24. The Wolverines hadn't won fewer games since the 1981-82 season. May came in, used the portal to overhaul the program, developed a few players who stuck around and instantly orchestrated a Sweet 16 run. Next, he constructed a roster that delivered the most dominant campaign in program history, complete with a Big Ten regular-season championship, a national championship and a 37-3 record.
Altogether, Michigan went 64-13 in May's pair of seasons running the ship.
AdvertisementAdvertisementEven though May had ruled out other college jobs this offseason, the NBA has always piqued his interest, according to ESPN's report, which noted Dallas also considered Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, who coached Flagg during the do-it-all forward's lone season with the Blue Devils.
Coincidentally, the last college coach to be named an NBA head coach was another Michigan frontman, John Beilein. He struggled mightily in his lone season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019-20.
That said, per ESPN, May is the first national title-winning head coach to leave for the NBA since Billy Donovan said goodbye to Florida and took over the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015. And, perhaps more notably, May is reportedly the first head coach to walk away from the college level immediately after winning it all since Larry Brown did so for the San Antonio Spurs job following his national championship at Kansas in 1988.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
