Dusty May leaving University of Michigan for NBA, according to reports
(FOX 2) - Dusty May is departing the University of Michigan's basketball team for a position as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, according to reports.
Just months after leading the Wolverines to a national championship during a dominant NCAA basketball season, May is departing the university for the NBA.
According to Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel of ESPN, May is finalizing a deal to lead the Mavericks as their new head coach.
Dig deeper:
The University of Michigan had hoped to keep May around for many more years after he helped bring the school its first basketball title in decades.
Back in April during the city's parade celebrating the championship, athletic director Warde Manuel said the school and May had agreed to a deal that would keep him as the basketball coach for "many years to come."
"Dusty and I have already reached an agreement," Manuel said in a remark that resulted in a standing ovation as well as chants of "Dusty!" from the crowd that had gathered at the Crisler Center.
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The backstory:
May, 49, led Michigan to a national title in his second season on the job after inheriting a program that went 8-24 the year before his arrival. Michigan went 37-3 this season and earned its first national title since 1989 by beating UConn 69-63 in the NCAA Tournament championship game.
He had been mentioned as a potential target for North Carolina, which hired former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone on Tuesday to replace the fired Hubert Davis.
"It’s been an honor for two years to represent all of you and to be called Coach by these guys," May said during Saturday’s ceremony. "Anytime you have a group come together and you feel like they gave you so much more than you could ever give them, it melts you. These guys did it for each other. They did it for the staff. They did it for all of you, and they did it for all the right reasons — with class, with great effort and support for each other. That’s all you can ask for as a coach."
May owns an overall coaching record of 190-82. He went 126-69 at Florida Atlantic from 2018-24 and led the Owls to a 2023 Final Four appearance before going 64-13 at Michigan the last two seasons.
The Source: ESPN, the Associated Press, and previous reporting was cited for this story.