Mavericks hiring Michigan coach to lead Cooper Flagg, Dallas

 Michigan coach Dusty May celebrates by cutting down the net after the Wolverines beat UConn to win the NCAA title on April 6. May is being hired to coach the Dallas Mavericks, where he will coach Cooper Flagg. (Michael Conroy/Associated Press) DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks and Dusty May of national champion Michigan are finalizing a deal for the coach to make the jump from college to the NBA, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal wasn’t completed. He comes to the NBA with a chance to mold Cooper Flagg, the Newport native who was the 2025 No. 1 overall draft pick and is the reigning Rookie of the Year. Veteran star Kyrie Irving is also on the roster for now after missing the 2025-26 season following an ACL tear in March of last year. [](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/cooper-flagg/) Related [Read all of our Cooper Flagg coverage](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/cooper-flagg/) He leaves a team that added [Scarborough native JP Estrella in the offseason](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/09/maine-native-jp-estrella-commits-to-michigan-mens-basketball/). Estrella, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound forward, played three seasons at Tennessee before entering the transfer portal in April. Estrella appeared in 33 games and started 13 for Tennessee this past season, averaging 10 points and 5.4 rebounds to help the Volunteers reach the Elite Eight, where they lost to Michigan. Flagg, meanwhile, averaged 21 points, 4.5 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 70 games in his first season with Dallas. The Mavericks went 26-56 and finished 12th in the Western Conference. Advertisement May and the Wolverines won their first NCAA championship since 1989 with a 69-63 victory over UConn in April to wrap up a 34-3 season. They opened the NCAA tournament by becoming the first team to score at least 90 points in five consecutive games. That came three years after May led Florida Atlantic to its only Final Four appearance. The Owls returned to the NCAA tournament in 2024 before May was hired by Michigan. The 49-year-old May replaces Jason Kidd, who was let go two weeks after Masai Ujiri was hired as president of basketball operations and alternate governor of the Mavericks. Michigan is promoting Mike Boynton to interim basketball coach to replace Dusty May, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. May’s first job as a college assistant was at Murray State in 2005-06. He then served on staffs at UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida before getting his first head coaching job at Florida Atlantic. The Owls went 35-4 during their dream season in 2022-23, which ended with a 72-71 loss to San Diego State in the national semifinals when Lamont Butler hit a buzzer-beating shot for the Aztecs. Advertisement “I was a fan of Dusty’s when he was at FAU,” said Yaxel Lendeborg, who played for May at Michigan and is expected to be a lottery pick in the first round of the NBA draft Tuesday night. “And now after playing for him, I’m a bigger fan. I have so much respect for Dusty May, I can’t even tell you.” Lendeborg said at last month’s draft combine that he believed May ran Michigan’s program like an NBA program in many ways. “A lot of schemes, a lot of switching and stuff. And his offense was very much a pro-style offense,” Lendeborg said. “We played fast-paced, physical, all of that. … I’ve gained so much knowledge from him as far as those actions and just those little communication keys.” May’s rise in coaching has been meteoric, particularly after the last four seasons. He took over at Florida Atlantic in 2018 and had four consecutive seasons of finishing just over .500 before striking gold in the 2022-23 season, goingon that improbable Final Four run. May went 25-9 at FAU the following season, then went to Michigan and brought the Wolverines back to prominence. He was 64-13 in his two seasons after replacing Juwan Howard with Michigan coming off an 8-24 season, the school’s lowest win total since going 7-20 in 1981-82. Advertisement Michigan went 27-10 in May’s debut, won the Big Ten Tournament and made it to the NCAA Sweet 16. May’s record in his last four college seasons was 124-26, an .827 winning percentage that was third-best in major college men’s basketball over that span behind Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (.861) and Duke’s Jon Scheyer (.832). The Indiana native was a student manager for the Hoosiers and coach Bob Knight while in school there from 1996-2000. He gained experience in scouting, video operations and player development while with the Hall of Fame coach who died in 2023. After graduating from Indiana, May spent two seasons as an administrative assistant and video coordinator at Southern California. He returned to the Hoosiers in similar roles from 2002-05. Copy the Story Link