Frustrated by the state of college basketball, a national champion coach traded Ann Arbor for Dallas after a surprise inquiry regarding NBA draft prospects sparked a career-altering transition.
Dusty May wasn't looking for a new job when Mike Schmitz called him on the morning of May 24. The conversation wasn't initially about May at all.
The Dallas Mavericks general manager wanted the then-Michigan coach's perspective on three Wolverines preparing for the 2026 NBA Draft. Somewhere along the way, though, Schmitz asked a question that would ultimately change the direction of both May's career and the Mavericks' franchise.
"Would you have any interest in this job?" Schmitz asked, according to May in a new interview with The Athletic's CJ Moore.
Turns out, he did.
May ultimately left Michigan less than two months after leading the Wolverines to a national championship, taking over a Mavericks team entering a dramatically different era under president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and Schmitz.
And apparently, the timing of that initial phone call couldn't have been much better.
May had just returned from the Big Ten's spring meetings frustrated with the state of college basketball. He told The Athletic that he went into those meetings expecting coaches to search for solutions to some of the sport's problems, only to leave believing "nothing's getting fixed."
That didn't mean May was planning his exit ... quite the opposite, actually.
May said he believed he'd be Michigan's coach for the 2026-27 season when he left for those meetings. His family had even begun renovations on its Ann Arbor home.
But Schmitz's question gave him something to consider.
And once May began evaluating the opportunity in Dallas, he realized another NBA opening with this particular combination of circumstances might never come.
Cooper Flagg was already coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign in which he became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Ujiri had previously constructed a championship team in Toronto. And Schmitz was someone May had known for years.
That last part mattered.
May enjoyed essentially serving as his own general manager in college, where he could identify and recruit the players he wanted. Giving up that control meant trusting the people responsible for constructing his NBA roster.
"You have to really believe and trust in who's deciding the team for you," May told The Athletic.
The Mavericks checked that box.
They've since given May another familiar face to work with, selecting his former Michigan big man Morez Johnson Jr. with the No. 9 pick in June. Johnson was one of three Wolverines selected in the top 12 after helping May win the national championship.
A phone call that started with Schmitz asking May about those Michigan prospects ultimately ended with Dallas finding its next head coach.
While May certainly didn't expect it when he answered, when the Mavericks eventually presented him with the opportunity, he decided it might be one he wouldn't get again.
