The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546004
20 THE WOLVERINE ❱ AUGUST 2026 BY CHRIS BALAS T his wasn't quite what we had in mind when we wrote "we can't wait to see what comes next" in a column for our 2026 special edition national champi- onship basketball book. While docu- menting the Wolverines' national title, we even wondered how soon it might be before we put another celebratory publication together. But with Dusty May on the verge of building a potential dynasty in Ann Arbor and having told reporters on podcasts he could see himself in Ann Arbor for a long time, the second-year Michigan men's basketball head coach stunned U-M fans and the basketball world when he accepted a job with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. Instead of competing for national titles, he'll now be chasing professional champi- onships after inking a five-year deal with one of the league's more promis- ing franchises. May told reporters this spring he was all about building his next U-M roster and running it back, noting he wasn't interested in any other college jobs. In a July interview with Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, he was asked what he would have told someone who six months ago said he would be sitting in an interview with the Mavericks logo on his polo. " I p ro b a b l y wo u l d ' ve t h o u g h t they were crazy," May replied. "I also wouldn't have thought that I would've made the move. We had pretty much committed to being at Michigan for a couple more years since my youngest son, Eli, has two more years [as a stu- dent and team manager] at the Univer- sity of Michigan." And then came an opportunity to coach a young superstar in Cooper Flagg and one of the best point guards in NBA history in Kyrie Irving, and the chance to work under new management led by a title-winning executive, Masai Ujiri. Everything changed during one week in May when he started talking with Mavericks executives, and it only esca- lated. When Duke's Jon Scheyer took his name out of the running, May became their focus. Soon after, he would become the "former" Michigan basketball coach after only two years. "It had to be the perfect situation for us to leave Ann Arbor," he insisted. Little solace to a fan base who ex- pected more incredible years under one of basketball's best coaches. SUDDEN CHANGE To Michigan's misfortune, it's safe to say May found that scenario earlier than he expected. He'd been working hard to put his third U-M team together, land- ing outstanding players from the trans- fer portal and the freshman class while making sure his returnees were taken care of in the NIL space. Even before the national champion- ship game with UConn, a 69-63 win, he was thinking at least a bit ahead to next year while reflecting on how his title squad had progressed. "The way we went from being a mar- ginal average basketball team to being an elite basketball team in a three-day window is something that hopefully we can bottle and try again in the future," he said. "But we'll think back on all these things later on …" Yet only for a few weeks. On June 22, Michigan basketball fans got that same sick feeling in their stomachs as they did when former coach John Beilein abruptly ended his 12-year tenure by signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the spring of 2019. Both times, fans wanted to know … why? May did his best to explain it in his first press conference as Mavericks coach. "There are a lot of reasons. The very first conversation, I bumped into [Presi- dent] Masai and [general manager] Mike [Schmitz] in Chicago [at the NBA Com- bine]," May recalled. "At that point, I had full intentions of being back at Michigan no matter what. We had a great conver- sation. It had nothing to do with this po- sition. And then whenever we were talk- ing about our guys — we had three guys in the lottery — it was mentioned that A STUNNING A STUNNING FAREWELL FAREWELL Michigan Coach Dusty May Leaves U-M Michigan Coach Dusty May Leaves U-M After Two Years And A National Title After Two Years And A National Title