Dusty May was the hottest name on the NBA radar for months, yet every time his name came up, he had a policy.
May wasn't going to talk about other jobs — at least, not specifically.
I sat down with the now-former Michigan basketball coach on June 17 for an overarching conversation about U-M's program. We discussed his frontcourt trio that's expected to be lottery selections, his returning guards that could be as good as any backcourt in the country, a pair of McDonald's All American incoming freshmen, the five-in-five rule and other players who could step up this season.
The sit-down concluded with probes about his current job and any potential for a new one. While he acknowledged he had yet to sign his extension with Michigan, he implied it was moving forward without a hitch. Also, given when he signed an extension last year it came in July, this didn't seem exceedingly out of the ordinary.
"Two days ago, I had a discussion about a couple details, and a week before that had a couple discussions about details," said May, to which I asked if the plan is still to go forward. "Yeah. I mean ... I don't even understand the issues with contracts because it's like the contracts are only as good as the buyout.
"But there's active negotiations, minor details. ... I don't spend much time thinking about it and talking about it."
That was old news by the morning of Monday, June 22, when reports surfaced May, 49, had agreed to become the next coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Two years and two months after coming to Ann Arbor, where he went 64-13, won a Big Ten Tournament title, a Big Ten regular season title and the national championship just two months ago, May was off to the NBA.
May's name was floated for just about every position that came open this past cycle — the Magic, Pelicans, Bulls, Bucks, Trail Blazers and most recently Mavericks. I asked him about what it's like hearing his name for all these openings.
"What's the saying, peacock today, feather duster tomorrow?" he responded. "Yeah, you feel appreciated, but I think every job that's been open this year, I've heard my name. ... I think that's more media-driven than anything else."
When asked if some teams had actually reached out to him, he said "very few." I probed back and specifically mentioned the Mavericks.
"I'm not talking about other jobs, right?," he said. "I've said it before. If I spend time talking about every job, that becomes the Brad Stevens joke where, a Division II, JUCO comes open and they say they 'gotta make Brad Stevens say no.'
"There's no reason to talk about jobs because there's going to be 10 jobs next year — 10 in the NBA and 10 in college. I'm just not talking about it. I think I've been pretty clear. I'm not talking about jobs."
In hindsight, this reads differently than it felt in the moment. At the time, it felt similar to some of the conversations he and I had in Indianapolis last spring, where the rumors were swirling North Carolina was going to pounce as a true blueblood of the sport and steal him away from Ann Arbor.
He doubled down and told me he was happy in Ann Arbor and didn't plan on leaving.
That same weekend, athletic director Warde Manuel shot down the reports and told the Free Press the two had agreed in principle to a new deal. Just more than a week later, after U-M won the national title, Manuel said it in Crisler Center in front of thousands of people — with May's approval — that "[May] will be the leader of this basketball team for many years to come," eliciting a roar and standing ovation from the crowd.
May's previous deal featured a $4.6 million base salary for this year. He earned another $500,000 in bonuses for winning the Big Ten ($50,000), being named Big Ten Coach of the Year ($50,000), winning a Final Four game ($200,000) and the national championship ($200,000) for a total of $5.1 million.
One could only figure it will be much larger than that in Dallas, with a future star player already on the roster, a top-10 pick in this week's NBA Draft, plus a major media market with an organization that's not afraid to spend money.
It fits a lot of the criteria May needed in order to be pulled away from the Wolverines.
There's no sugarcoating this: It's a detrimental blow for Michigan. In two years, May took a last-place Big Ten team and turned it into the best team in the country and appeared to have the program poised to become a powerhouse for years to come.
He was a master in the transfer portal. After the NBA Draft on June 23, it's likely his five transfer portal big men he landed in two years in Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin, Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. will all be on NBA rosters, and four of them will have gone as first-round selections.
U-M appeared to have real staff continuity going into the 2026-27 season, with only Justin Joyner (who took over as Oregon State head coach) seemingly on the way out. Now, the leader of the entire operation is off to lead the Mavericks along with Cooper Flagg.
Oh, don't forget, the Mavericks have the No. 9 pick in the draft. Flagg is a big, versatile forward who can handle the ball and create for others. May likes that. What else does he like? Pairing another big man with him.
Keep an eye out for a Mara-May reunion on Tuesday night.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What Dusty May told me days before leaving Michigan for Mavs
