Masai Ujiri’s first hiring with the Dallas Mavericks is a big one.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Pete Thamel and Shams Charania report the team is finalizing a deal to make Dusty May the club’s next head coach.
May, 49, led the Michigan Wolverines to their first national title since 1989 this past spring.
May will succeed Jason Kidd, who left the Mavericks last month.
A native of Terre Haute, IN, May began his coaching career as a student manager with Indiana under Bobby Knight. He would become an assistant after graduation. After a decade with the Hoosiers, May worked on staffs at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, Alabama-Birmingham and Florida before his first head coaching job in 2018 with Florida Atlantic.
Following four seasons of above .500 play, May’s Owls became the Cinderella story of March Madness in 2024. The Conference USA champions, FAU was a nine-seed in the NCAA Tournament and knocked off Memphis, Farleigh Dickinson, Tennessee and Kansas State before falling to San Diego State in the Final Four. The run to the tournament semis raised May’s profile nationally with big schools taking notice.
After one more season with the Owls, May joined the Wolverines in 2024. May succeeded program icon Juwan Howard after an eight-win season saw Michigan miss the tournament for consecutive years for the first time since 2008. He took the Wolverines to the Sweet 16 in his first season on the job before winning the program’s second title this past April.
