Why Dallas Mavericks Chose Michigan's Dusty May as Next Head Coach

The Dallas Mavericks took the unconventional route for their next head coach, choosing to hire the University of Michigan's Dusty May. There haven't been many examples of college coaches jumping to the NBA without any previous NBA experience, but most of them haven't worked out well. Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens are really the only two in recent memory that had any success, and calling Donovan a success in the NBA is a stretch.

Still, the Mavericks are confident they found the right man for the job, and they immediately showed their confidence in May by selecting one of his Michigan players just hours after making the hire official, taking Morez Johnson Jr. 9th overall. It's a questionable pick, especially because of the offensive fit of the forward with Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II/Daniel Gafford.

Dallas officially announced the hire on Tuesday, just before the draft. Here is what team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz had to say about the hire.

Masai Ujiri on Dusty May

“Dusty stood out in many ways. I saw him in Chicago in the pre-draft camp and observed him. Talking to people and it’s a different ball game with NIL in college now and how you operate with youth. It’s almost like a professional league in college. Many things translate in some kind of way," Ujiri stated just ahead of the draft last night.

"You look at the style of play, big players, how he sees the game, then I look at the person. [He's an] incredible person, good partner... He's worked everywhere. He's coached small teams, big teams. I understand that he's a college coach and he's coming to the NBA game, I think that's sometimes something we look at to see what the success has been, but I think there's been some success... The game is changing fast, and I think he has that kind of mind.”

Asked Masai Ujiri about hiring Dusty May as Mavs coach:

“Dusty stood out in many ways. I saw him in Chicago in the predraft camp & observed him. Talking to people & it’s a different ball game with NIL & college & how you operate with youth. It’s almost like a professional league… pic.twitter.com/Zzgy9h9I1m
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) June 23, 2026

Mike Schmitz Sees Dusty May As a Winner

“He's a basketball junkie. He studies the game relentlessly, at all levels. He's watching college, he's watching NBA, he's watching EuroLeague, EuroCup, every level of basketball he's consuming," Mavs GM Mike Schmitz said after the draft. "When you combine that with his basketball intellect, who he is as a person, and how he builds relationships. How he's won at a small school, at a big school. He’s worn many different hats and worked his way up, across decades of work, right? So you put all those things together, and it gives you incredible confidence that he's going to translate really well to the NBA.”

Mike Schmitz on why Dusty May is ready for a coaching job at the NBA level.

“He's a basketball junkie. He studies the game relentlessly, at all levels. He's watching college, he's watching NBA, he's watching Euro League, Euro Cup and every level of basketball he's consuming.… pic.twitter.com/3iIkhDdSMO
— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) June 24, 2026

Although there hasn't been much history behind a hire like this, the Mavericks are confident that Dusty May's ability to build relationships and locker room cultures will translate to the NBA. Morez Johnson was certainly happy to be back under May, but he's going to have to get buy-in from veterans like Kyrie Irving and design an NBA offense.

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