{"id":201716,"date":"2026-06-23T15:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=201716"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:32:41","slug":"dusty-may-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/06\/23\/dusty-may-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Dusty May’s Departure leaves questions for the Michigan Wolverines"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the defending college basketball champions, the Michigan Wolverines were expecting to head into the 2026-27 season with yet another massive core of players, with a chance to make noise again. While the roster is well intact for another run, they won’t have the brains behind the operation. That’s right, unless you have been sleeping under a rock, Dusty May made the move to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While it doesn’t come as a surprise to some, as it was clear he would make that jump eventually, many in Ann Arbor and the surrounding State of Michigan find themselves a little puzzled. It almost opens the Big Ten to many other hungry programs, in a way. So what do the Wolverines do now, post Dusty May?<\/p>\n

Dusty May’s Departure leaves questions for the Michigan Wolverines.<\/h2>\n

Coach May seemed like he was going to stick around for the foreseeable future. Especially when the Wolverines brought in another strong batch of transfers, along with some highly rated freshmen. Instead, he heads to Dallas, where he could easily pick one of his three former players in the 2026 NBA Draft. Those players are Yaxel Lendeborg<\/a>, Aday Mara<\/a>, and Morez Johnson Jr<\/a>. In a way, it was a smart move.<\/p>\n

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Blindsided or Was This Coming?<\/h3>\n

The debate will always be talked about in terms of how this seemed to have gone down for May. For all accounts, he had become a ‘Michigan Man’ as the Wolverines fondly refer to themselves in most cases.\u00a0 Dusty May’s name came up months ago when the Orlando Magic job<\/a> was open, and even then, he was talking about how he’s more than ready to help get Michigan right back to the Final Four, in Detroit this coming season.<\/p>\n

Then you fast-forward to not even a week ago, when May talked with Field of 68 host Jeff Goodman about how the challenges of college basketball are becoming too much. That was clearly a testament to the fact that May wasn’t staying in Ann Arbor, as so many fans thought.<\/p>\n

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This was Dusty May 5 days ago on his frustration with college basketball right now:
pic.twitter.com\/vAgQ3RnIFK<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n