{"id":2091242,"date":"2026-08-13T10:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2091242"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:00:13","slug":"dusty-may-explains-why-he-left-michigan-and-college-basketball-where-nothings-getting-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2091242","title":{"rendered":"Dusty May explains why he left Michigan and college basketball, where \u2018nothing\u2019s getting fixed\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Dallas Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz called to pick Dusty May\u2019s brain about Michigan\u2019s three NBA Draft prospects on the morning of May 24, he asked one question that got the ball rolling toward May leaving the school he\u2019d just won a championship with to coach the Mavericks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you have any interest in this job?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Schmitz\u2019s timing was perfect, May told him. May had just returned home from the Big Ten\u2019s spring meetings, where the league\u2019s coaches met to discuss, among other things, the state of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited for Big Ten meetings, like \u2018we\u2019re going to find some solutions,\u2019\u201d May told The Athletic<\/em> this week. \u201cI go there and I was just like, \u2018Oh my God, nothing\u2019s getting fixed. Ever<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

May said the Big Ten coaches were still complaining about the transfer portal and changes to the game that he saw as irreversible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop talking about the stuff that we can\u2019t change,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n

That was not the only reason May left for the Mavericks, but the timing of spring meetings and Schmitz\u2019s call at least made him open to the possibility. May was able to think through every scenario and contemplate what was right for him for several weeks. The news broke that he took the job on June 22<\/a>, almost a month after that first conversation with Schmitz.<\/p>\n

May reflected on his decision this week as he rested in Ann Arbor, where he was recovering from hip surgery before training camp for the Mavs begins next month. He\u2019ll be the first coach since Larry Brown in 1988 to win a national title and then coach another team the next season.<\/p>\n

Months ago, he would have never predicted this would be his reality. When May left for the Big Ten spring meetings, he said he believed he\u2019d be Michigan\u2019s coach for the 2026-27 season. He had no intentions of looking elsewhere; the Mays had even begun renovations on their home in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor all the people that said that I had one foot out the door,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But May said he has always had a desire to coach in the NBA, and he expected if he kept winning, as he did in his two seasons at Michigan, he would get an opportunity. Once he started the evaluation process after Schmitz\u2019s inquiry, it occurred to him that he may never get an opportunity like this one, with a young superstar like Cooper Flagg, a team president in Masai Ujiri, who built a champion with the Toronto Raptors, and a general manager in Schmitz, whom he had known for years.<\/p>\n

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The other factor that made it easier for May was how much of a college coach\u2019s time is spent on fundraising and administrative duties that took him away from focusing on his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just spent so much more of my time doing everything but coaching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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How many college basketball players will make more money than LeBron?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/0ZoJUiHghcZS3fa\/”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/0ZoJUiHghcZS3fa\/”,”name”:”How many college basketball players will make more money than LeBron?”,”description”:”Around 20 college basketball players will make more than LeBron James’ $3.8 million salary next year.”,”uploadDate”:”2026-07-25T01:14:44.599Z”,”duration”:”PT41S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/0ZoJUiHghcZS3fa\/VkUm6jEjGArs.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/0ZoJUiHghcZS3fa\/VkUm6jEjGArs\/VkUm6jEjGArs.m3u8″,”transcript”:”How many college basketball players will make more than LeBron James next season? Can you imagine that question being asked, ever? Well, it’s a real question now because LeBron James is taking 3.88 million to play with 76ers next year. Our reporting, we’re confident in pushing 20 players who are gonna make more than LeBron James. Some obvious ones, Thomas Howe, who was a projected first-round pick back to Florida, you know, JT Topping at Texas Tech, but you’ve also got Jackson Shelstad and John Blackwell and Aiden Sherrill and on and on. And of course, one thing that they also have in common, none of them were born as of the day the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/”,”sameAs”:”https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”The Athletic Staff”}]}<\/p>\n
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