From student manager to the Dallas Mavericks: Dusty May’s remarkable rise continues

Only days after he accepted his first head coaching job eight years ago, Dusty May feared he may have committed career suicide.

He almost backed out of the opportunity to coach Florida Atlantic when he toured the school’s campus and saw the condition of its aging, run-down basketball facilities.

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It wasn’t just that FAU’s gymnasium seated less than 3,000 fans or that it lacked a dedicated practice facility. The weight room was the size of a closet. The head coach’s office backed up to a janitor’s closet. The locker room featured a stained carpet and steel intramural lockers you’d expect to find at a high school.

“The people, the area, the campus at FAU, it blew me away how impressive it was,” May recalled a few years ago, but the basketball facilities “were still in kind of a time warp.”

May’s stunning rise over the past eight years is a testament to his talent as an Xs-and-Os tactician, relationship builder and roster architect. He has gone from detouring would-be recruits away from FAU’s outdated basketball facilities to accepting the chance to spearhead the NBA’s most intriguing rebuild.

Three years after guiding FAU to an unimaginable Final Four appearance, two years after taking over Michigan’s tradition-rich program and mere months after leading the Wolverines to their first national title in nearly four decades, May is leaving the college ranks. The Dallas Mavericks are hiring him to take charge of a franchise built around reigning NBA rookie of the year Cooper Flagg.

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Michigan losing May to the NBA always felt like a possibility at some point, but for it to happen after only two seasons is a surprise. May leaves behind a roster ranked in the top five of many way-too-early top 25 polls, one that features an array of highly rated transfers and incoming freshmen to complement returning guards Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau.

For May, the desire to become a basketball coach dates back to his freshman season playing for NAIA Oakland City University.

It…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/from-student-manager-to-the-dallas-mavericks-dusty-mays-remarkable-rise-continues-181110877.html

Author : Jeff Eisenberg

Publish date : 2026-06-22 18:11:00

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