Just 77 days after leading Michigan to a national championship, Dusty May is reportedly on his way to the NBA.
According to reports from ESPN's Pete Thamel, Shams Charania and Jeff Borzello, May is finalizing a deal to become the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. The chance to coach Cooper Flagg and one of the league's most exciting young rosters appears to have been too good to pass up.
NEWS: Michigan coach Dusty May is finalizing a deal to take the Dallas Mavericks head coaching job, sources tell me @shams and @AdamSchefter. May led Michigan basketball to the national title in April. The allure of coaching Cooper Flagg as a linchpin piece helped draw him. pic.twitter.com/nnEZplL5BG
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) June 22, 2026
For Michigan fans, the news is difficult to process. For the rest of college basketball, it's another reminder that the line between the college and professional games has never been thinner.
A turnaround that barely seems real
It's easy to forget just how quickly May changed everything in Ann Arbor.
When he arrived from Florida Atlantic ahead of the 2024-25 season, Michigan was coming off a disastrous campaign and desperately needed a reset. Instead of a slow rebuild, May delivered immediate results.
The Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournament in his first season and followed it up with one of the greatest years in program history.
Michigan finished 37-3, won the Big Ten regular-season title, earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and captured the national championship in April. May finished his Michigan career with a remarkable 64-13 record in just two seasons.
That's the kind of run that normally buys a coach a decade at a school.
Instead, it lasted just two years.
Michigan looked built for a dynasty
Part of what makes this move so surprising is how bright Michigan's future appeared.
The Wolverines had become one of the sport's premier destinations for transfer portal talent. May had proven he could identify players, build rosters and create a system that maximized their strengths.
Perhaps most importantly, he had restored belief around the program.
By the end of last season, Michigan wasn't simply a contender. It looked like a program positioned to compete for Final Fours every year.
Now athletic director Warde Manuel faces the unenviable task of replacing the coach who made all of that possible.
The NBA was always the one threat
Throughout the offseason, May's name surfaced whenever major college openings appeared.
Nothing materialized.
That wasn't surprising. May repeatedly showed little interest in jumping from one college job to another.
The NBA, however, has always been viewed differently.
His offensive philosophy, ability to manage modern rosters and reputation as one of basketball's best relationship-builders made him a natural fit for the professional game. When an opportunity arose to coach Cooper Flagg and a Mavericks franchise looking toward the future, it became a much tougher decision.
Apparently, it was one he couldn't turn down.
What happens next at Michigan?
That question immediately becomes one of the biggest storylines in college basketball.
The timing isn't ideal. Most coaching carousel activity has already come and gone, and rosters around the country are largely set.
Michigan remains one of the best jobs in the sport, but replacing a national championship coach is never simple.
The next hire won't just be expected to win games. He'll be expected to sustain a standard that May established almost overnight.
That's a tall order for anyone.
A reminder of college basketball's new reality
There was a time when winning a national championship at a place like Michigan represented the pinnacle of the profession.
Not anymore.
College basketball has become increasingly intertwined with the NBA. Front offices and athletic departments are competing for many of the same basketball minds, and successful college coaches are now viewed as viable professional candidates in a way they weren't a decade ago.
Dusty May's departure is the latest example.
Michigan got everything it could have hoped for when it hired him. A conference championship. A national championship. A complete program transformation.
The only thing the Wolverines didn't get was time.
Just when it looked like Michigan had found its coach for the next decade, the NBA came calling.
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