Dusty May could set a new precedent for college coaches making an NBA jump - ESPN

Dusty May, fresh off a national title at Michigan, is finalizing a deal to become the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.

Historically, college coaches jumping to the NBA have rarely worked out, but this one feels different. That's because of who May is, how he coaches and, perhaps most notably, the way in which college basketball now operates essentially like a professional league.

It's also why his performance could have a major impact on college hoops.

May, 49, has certainly distinguished himself as one of the game's brightest coaches. The onetime Bob Knight manager at Indiana took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023 and led Michigan to a dominating national championship run in 2026. He has won nearly 70% of his games across eight seasons.

May's teams are known for their innovative offensive sets; he is known for his communication skills. Hand him a young Mavericks roster centered on 19-year-old Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, and a pair of first-round picks in Tuesday's draft (Nos. 9 and 30), and you can see the potential.

This is a good hire. And that's despite knowing the lengthy list of successful college basketball coaches who didn't get anywhere in the NBA — from John Calipari and Lon Kruger, to Leonard Hamilton and Tim Floyd, to Mike Montgomery and so on. Even Rick Pitino didn't last.

The NBA's success at mining the college ranks for coaching talent was so limited outside of Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan that the league basically gave up trying. NBA owners and general managers stopped believing March Madness success mattered.

The last hire of this kind came in 2019, when Cleveland recruited another Michigan coach, John Beilein. A distinguished teacher of the game at the collegiate level, Beilein