May Joins Mavericks; Boynton Set as Michigan Interim
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- Dusty May is leaving Michigan for the Dallas Mavericks to replace Jason Kidd under new team president Masai Ujiri and GM Mike Schmitz, the first men's college basketball head coach to leave for the NBA in seven years.
- May guided Michigan to a 37-3 record and the national championship, beating UConn in the title game, and becomes the first coach to depart immediately after winning a title since Larry Brown left Kansas for the Spurs in 1988.
- Michigan is 'working toward' hiring assistant Mike Boynton as interim head coach for 2026-27; Boynton has been defensive coordinator since 2024 and previously spent seven seasons at Oklahoma State, where he landed No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.
- Michigan's roster was ranked No. 3 in the Way-Too-Early Top 25 despite losing four starters — three of whom are projected first-round picks in Tuesday's NBA draft — with returnees Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney, transfers Moustapha Thiam, J.P. Estrella and Jalen Reed, and a 2026 recruiting class ranked No. 4 headlined by five-star guard Brandon McCoy.
- Under an NCAA rule change from January, Michigan players have a 15-day transfer portal window that opens five days after the new coach is publicly announced — a tight timeline given the draft and the already-closed portal.
- Other potential candidates down the road include Josh Schertz (Saint Louis), Mark Byington (Vanderbilt), Grant McCasland (Texas Tech), Ben McCollum (Iowa), T.J. Otzelberger (Iowa State), Nate Oats (Alabama) and free agent Billy Donovan, who recently stepped down from the Chicago Bulls.
Why it matters: The departure comes the day before the NBA draft and nearly two months after the transfer portal closed, leaving Boynton limited room to reshape a top-five roster that lost four starters. Michigan AD Warde Manuel has navigated similar exits before — and now has a No. 3 roster and No. 4 recruiting class to sell to a permanent successor.
