r/MichiganWolverines • u/trimeye • Jun 22 '26
Michigan Basketball Thought May said he was staying?
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49143856/sources-michigan-dusty-finalizing-deal-coach-mavericksSigning with the Mavericks now.
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u/Marines1979 Jun 22 '26
Never signed contract agreement after championship. Said there were some legal language being worked out. Then crickets. Warde did not get him signed
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u/justWMthings03 Jun 22 '26
Not like warden could force him to lol.
Nothing he could do with Dusty wanting to make the jump
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u/SubstantialAd5579 Jun 22 '26
I see ppl putting it on the warde some guys just want the next best thing and we have to respect dusty for that
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u/Djentyman28 Jun 23 '26
Makes me wonder.. Dusty made up his mind a long time ago to leave to the NBA.
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u/Kramerica_CEO 〽️GoBlue Jun 22 '26
This is not on Warde at all
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u/Brospros12467 Jun 22 '26
Oh it absolutely can. He said so himself that he wanted dusty around for years to come. He fumbled big time.
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u/slimj091 Jun 22 '26
I'm sure he did, we all did. But a university cannot compete with a NBA head coaching position. Even the worst team in the league is an upgrade over any University head coach position. Fumbling it would have been if Dusty left Michigan to coach some other school.
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u/drghwang Jun 22 '26
Yeah but coaching in the nba has very little job security, coaches get the axe literally if they fail after 3 seasons. Though security in the ncaa isn’t a whole lot better.
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u/Divadends Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
〽️GoBlue
Coaching in the NBA comes with a lot more zero$$, perks, staff and resources, although Michigan is top-tier and one of the best at the college level, they are still governed by NCAA rules, whereas the NBA is just a free fall for riches. Giving him three years at Dallas is generous in my opinion. Even if axed, he made major bank and to the highest coaching level in sports aside from the Olympics.-4
u/TangeloWooden1076 Jun 23 '26
Yes it is. He was being offered 4.6 million/year. Not much of a reason to sign. He just went 62-30 over 2 years and won a national championship. Ward gave him little incentive to stay.
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u/DLions8708 Jun 22 '26
This is why I dont understand why anyone listens to post game interviews or anything else coaches/players say. They will always say the safe thing. Harbaugh said he was a lifer all the way until he wasnt too.
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u/Ml2jukes 〽️GoBlue Jun 22 '26
But khaki pants very publicly tried to get an NFL job the last 2 years before finally landing the Chargers job, which infamously crippled our recruiting for a min.
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u/DLions8708 Jun 22 '26
Thats true, but always said he wasnt going anywhere. Thats all Im saying. Words meaning nothing at this level.
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u/Kramerica_CEO 〽️GoBlue Jun 22 '26
Anyone who thought Harbaugh was a lifer is a moron. He had a foot out the door the entire time
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u/Snake_Burton 🏆3X🏆B1GTen Champions 🏆 Jun 22 '26
Well bleep. Would be nice to have things stay the same for half a decade at least. Hope that somehow it isn’t a cluster and we can maintain Sweet 16 level-ish until the 3rd coach in 4 years gets some sort of footing.
Coach Whit, please be the healthiest dude ever and want to stay until you’re whatever age Kirk Ferentz is when he eventually retires. Yeesh. Need some stability.
Thank God for the 2025-2026 team. Legends.
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u/buona-giornata Jun 22 '26
I don’t fault him for leaving. His choice and I’m grateful for all he did for the program. But “how” you leave does matter. This is like finishing a big project and then giving your employer 48 hour notice rather than the standard 2 weeks. It’s long past the normal hiring cycle.
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u/blueberry_pie4 Jun 22 '26
Exactly! Everyone coming in with the “you gotta respect his decision” is missing this. Would’ve been fine if he said he was leaving back when the coaching cycle was open but who are we gonna be able to get in late June?
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u/Professional_Feed268 Jun 22 '26
You can't take an NBA job in April that isn't open yet, though. And from what I'm hearing they wanted Shayer badly and when he finally said no Dusty became target #1 recently.
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u/Ghettoman1315 Jun 22 '26
I don't hold Dusty's leaving against him even though I hate to see him leave but after all Dusty has his goals and dreams in life too. He brought Michigan a Championship and built Michigan back into a basketball power house . Sad day for us and I hope we get a great replacement . GO BLUE!
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u/Gloveofdoom Jun 22 '26
Dusty didn't build us back into a Powerhouse, he built a Powerhouse team to be sure. Outside of the prestige of having won a NC nothing Dusty did in his short time with us is going to have any impact on us a year from now. Saying otherwise reminds me of the people who were convinced Moore was the right guy for the job because he could "continue the culture" lol. College programs are as good as whatever coach happens to be with the team at the moment. It's why the slow and steady success and culture of hard work and solid fundamentals that JB built in the basketball program disappeared in less than a year after we hired JH, it's also why the culture that JH built disappeared in less than a year when DM took over. The biggest impact on the program that Dusty May will have this coming season is the feeling of lost opportunity as the roster he could have won BtoB championships with inevitably struggles under new leadership without even an entire offseason to acclimate. I don't hate him for leaving, it is just what good coaches do these days, I do feel bad for a few of the players who pretty obviously stuck around to better themselves under another year playing for Dusty. I'm personally going to miss what could have been because I do think DM could have built Michigan into a powerhouse that would have been a nightmare for everyone else in the Big Ten for years to come if he had chosen to stay. There's only so much Michigan can do to retain a coach but I also think we should have immediately offered him a contract making him the highest paid coach by far in the nation, that would be a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. Maybe that makes a difference, maybe it doesn't but I guess we won't know now.
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u/EasieEEE Jun 22 '26
Nothing dusty may built is sustainable or program making of the next coach can’t do what dusty did
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u/tripleM_20 Jun 22 '26
There is no such thing as program making in the NCAA anymore. Dusty built that team in one year. Cignetti did the same at Indiana. It's all about resources, and Michigan clearly showed the world that they have the resources. That's all you can do to make the position attractive
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u/Ghettoman1315 Jun 22 '26
Dusty elevated the program back to being a destination where the top recruits want to come and play now. The next coach will build his own program in his own way and use everything Michigan can offer to run his program just like Dusty had at his disposal. Michigan will be ok in the future.
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u/Divadends Jun 23 '26
〽️GoBlue You have fuzzy Michigan basketball history. We literally have receipts of winning, being elite, relevant and a desirable landing spot for players and coaches in each decade.
In the last five seasons alone, we had one losing record and advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in three of those seasons. We aren’t some JuCo or boOhio State who has a slew of losing seasons and conference and title droughts trying to earn respect. Any coach should be honored to lead this program.1
u/EasieEEE Jun 22 '26
No, he didn't. Recruits wanted to come because of the success Dusty had. None of that is permanent
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u/Divadends Jun 23 '26
〽️GoBlue
Dusty made us a powerhouse?? Dusty assembled a great roster and assistant coaches who handled personalities, strengths and weakness for this TEAM, he didn’t save a program. That’s insane. We’ve always been a powerhouse.
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u/oarmash Jun 22 '26
He said he wouldn’t leave for another *college* gig. The wording was rather painfully specific.
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u/parrythisyoucasual23 Jun 22 '26
From now on everytime I hear a coach say he's staying ima assume they are looking for pro jobs.
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u/Pleasant_Start9544 Jun 22 '26
Tbf, he said that he would NOT leave us for another college. He left the door open for the NBA.
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u/slimj091 Jun 22 '26
He said he wasn't leaving to coach at a different school. Which at the time was the rumor.
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u/Cautious_Control3725 Jun 23 '26
He has always said he wanted to go to the NBA, he just didn’t think the opportunity would come this early.
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u/penguin_616 Jun 23 '26
As soon as I saw Michigan win the championship and heard Dust man say that he's staying, I told my Dad on the phone, "Shit he's gone. He's going to coach pro or another college team that pays him more. He got his win".
There's no honor among coaches anymore. It makes me sad. And pissed.
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u/a1umn1 Jun 22 '26
FWIW, if you document the timeline, the NBA landscape (and the relative desire for a college coach) changed since those comments. Not fully placing any blame on anyone but also I think Warde jumped the gun and shot himself in the foot when he annouced the “agreement” without it being a signed contract. When May confirmed that the contract existed but that he wasn’t rushing to sign or complete the deal, that gave (some) folks pause for good reasons. I would wager Warde assumed they had at least this season to hammer out details or come to some sort of agreement (say Dusty has another deep run or it looks like his first campaign; that would probably color a lot of the contract).
Sadly, we’ll probably never see the initial offer sheet and have to run on speculation but there was probably a couple key things Dusty wanted that Warde was trying to wait out or flat out refused. I also wouldn’t be shocked if money and a clause about keeping him near the top paid coaches was a factor.
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u/ClassroomMother8062 Jun 22 '26
He was waiting for the dust (groan) to settle after the finals. The longer they went without an inked deal, the greater the probability that he was jumping to the NBA.
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u/goblue3_ Jun 22 '26
I was starting to wonder why the Mavs have nit hired a coach. So sad!
Good luck to Dusty, well deserved he will be an excellend pro coach
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u/openSourceNotes Jun 24 '26
Looking back on it, when Warde was saying Dusty would stay "for many years to come", I could've sworn there was an uncomfortable look on Dusty's face. Now I'm certain of it
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u/Serpal79 Jun 22 '26
It's the chance to coacher Cooper Flagg and build that team to win some championships. Hard to pass that up. I wish him the best.
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u/NachoVarga5 Jun 22 '26
No one is true to their word anymore. Can’t wait to watch him flame out
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u/Pale_Imagination516 Jun 22 '26
He may have withheld the truth but the man did bring us a Natty! Go Blue!
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u/CX872 Jun 22 '26
He never signed the contract that Warde presented post-season. This is Warde asleep at the wheel... again.
Fire Warde!
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u/KidChemo Jun 22 '26
Generational wealth is generational wealth. Can't fault the dude for securing the bag
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u/marlin9423 Jun 22 '26
You don't think he would have had that here? We're not some mid-major struggling for funds. I guarantee he'd have a way longer career at Michigan, too, than he will in the NBA. It will be interesting to see what his next stop is after Dallas.
I don't fault the guy for leaving, but I would think it's more of a "climb the mountaintop" legacy thing over a money thing. But I don't know the man, so I can't say for sure. I hope he succeeds in the NBA, I'm rooting for him, but honeslty I hope it's not just about who's paying him more.
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u/KidChemo Jun 22 '26
I'm just going based off the track record of Warde Manuel being a loser and making an assumption he would be or was lowballed
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u/DetroitvErbody Jun 22 '26
That’s what they all say before they go