Mavericks Expected to Speak With College 'Titans' For Head Coach Opening

The Dallas Mavericks are in the process of looking for a new coach after dismissing Jason Kidd a few weeks ago. They'd ideally like to have someone in place by the start of the NBA Draft, which is less than three weeks away.

That puts them in a time crunch, and it seems that they're still in the opening stages of conducting interviews and picking out candidates. People thought they would be interested in Sean Sweeney, but he ended up taking the job with the Orlando Magic. So, who are the Mavericks actually interested in?

NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer released some tidbits about the coaching search for the Mavs, saying they may look to the college ranks and explore interest, specifically with Michigan's Dusty May and Duke's Jon Scheyer.

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︀︀“It remains to be seen whether Duke's Jon Scheyer or Michigan's Dusty May reach full-fledged candidate status with Dallas since both are so entrenched with their universities, but league sources tell The Stein Line that there has been exploratory conversation with both college titans to try to determine if there is any interest. May, of course, just won a national championship with the Wolverines, while Scheyer coached Flagg as a Blue Devils freshman in 2024-25.”

May has only been at Michigan for two seasons and already has guided them to a national championship. Before that, he'd been at Florida Atlantic, where he led them to their lone Final Four appearance in school history in 2023, losing to San Diego State on a buzzer-beater.

Meanwhile, Scheyer has been the head coach at Duke since Mike Krzyzewski stepped down in 2022, leading the Blue Devils to a Final Four with Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel and three ACC Tournament championships, but no national championships yet. He's done a great job bringing in elite talent and coached Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II, two current Mavs. Scheyer also played at Duke, ending his college career just one season before Kyrie Irving got there.

Mar 29, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer looks on against the UConn Huskies in the first half during an Elite Eight game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Don't Expect Jon Scheyer, Dusty May to Jump Ship

While they might have been mentioned, it would be surprising if May or Scheyer ended up as the choices for the Mavericks. May just won a national championship in his second season, while Scheyer has one of the most prestigious coaching jobs in athletics.

There are plenty of other people the Mavericks will show interest in; the Mavericks mentioned Terry Stotts, Micah Nori, Royal Ivey, and many others as examples, but it would be surprising if it ended up as one of these two college coaches.

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