After building Michigan into a dominant force and capping it off with the 2026 NCAA title on a 37-3 record, Dusty May is stepping into a pretty unusual situation with the Mavericks.
These college-to-pro hires have become rare, and the last one before him turned into a quick disaster. To make things even more interesting, Dallas used the No. 9 pick on Morez Johnson Jr., one of May’s own players from Michigan.
Johnson was productive in college (13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.1 blocks, 0.7 steals in 25.1 minutes, shooting 62.3% from the field), but he was more of a high-motor defensive big man and finisher than a polished lottery pick.
That started the debate over whether the pick was purely about basketball or if May’s connection with Johnson had a real influence. Coming off a brutal 26-56 season, the Mavericks are handing May a young core built around Cooper Flagg, Johnson, and a front office hungry for a new direction.
It’s exciting, yet the track record for these hires is rough. The locker room, the schedule, and the power balance all feel completely different from college.
So, is May doomed from the start? Not necessarily. But a look at the last 10 college coaches who tried this leap explains why it’s never easy.
1. John Beilein
John Beilein stands as the biggest warning for what can go wrong. Like May, he came straight from Michigan with serious credentials and the hope that his teaching ability and structured offense would carry over. The Cavaliers, rebuilding after LeBron James, gave him the job in 2019. It ended fast: 14-40 and a resignation before the season was done.
The losses were expected, but the deeper issues were the cultural mismatch, as his approach felt too collegiate for pro players. Beilein was a great college mind, but he never found his footing in the NBA.
For May, this is the nightmare comparison. Same school. Same jump. Same question about whether a college coach can speak to NBA players without sounding like a professor.
The difference is that May is younger and walks into a roster with Cooper Flagg, who is still early enough in his career to be shaped. He also brings Morez Johnson Jr., someone who already knows him. That can help.
But Beilein’s run is why Mavericks fans can’t just say, “May won in college, so he will win here.” Beilein won in college, too. The NBA didn’t care.
2. Billy Donovan
On the brighter side, Billy Donovan proves it can actually work out. After two titles at Florida, he joined the Thunder in 2015 and immediately delivered: a 55-27 record and a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2016, where they pushed the Warriors to the brink despite blowing a 3-1 lead.
Even as the roster evolved through Russell Westbrook’s MVP run, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and eventually Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan adapted well enough to post a 243-157 record in Oklahoma City.
Then he moved to the Bulls and had a more uneven run. The Bulls had some good moments with DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic, but they never became a serious playoff team. His full NBA record is now 469-413, so he is one of the only recent college-to-NBA coaches with a winning record.
3. Fred Hoiberg
Fred Hoiberg looked like a natural on paper when the Bulls hired him in 2015. With NBA playing experience, front-office background, and a modern pace-and-space offense from Iowa State, he seemed ready to bridge both worlds.
Hoiberg replaced Tom Thibodeau in 2015, and that was already a tough situation. The Bulls were coming off a more intense, defense-first era, and the roster still had Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and veterans who were used to a different style. Hoiberg wanted more flow. The team was not really built for that.
The first season was a letdown. The Bulls went 42-40 and missed the playoffs. The next year, they added Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, which looked famous on paper but weird on the court. The Bulls made the playoffs in 2017, took a 2-0 lead on the Celtics, then lost four straight after Rondo got hurt.
After that, Butler was traded, and Hoiberg was left with a rebuild. His full Bulls record was 115-155. He was fired after a 5-19 start in the 2018-19 season. That is not Beilein-level disaster, but it still didn’t work.
The lesson with Hoiberg is not that college coaches can’t handle offense. The problem was fit, timing, and player control. The Bulls hired him for one idea, but the roster didn’t fully match the idea. Then the team changed direction.
4. Brad Stevens
Brad Stevens represents the best-case scenario that everyone hopes for. The Celtics hired him from Butler in 2013, and the move looked risky because he was only 36.
He had been amazing in college, taking Butler to back-to-back national title games in 2010 and 2011, but the NBA is different. Nobody knew if his calm style and X-and-O brain would work with grown pros.
It worked. Not immediately in the standings, because the Celtics were rebuilding after the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett era. His first season was 25-57. But even then, the team looked organized. They defended. They competed. They didn’t look like a rebuilding team with no plan.
Then the Celtics started to climb. Stevens finished with a 354-282 regular-season record. He made the playoffs in seven of his eight seasons and reached the Eastern Conference Finals three times. He never won a championship as head coach, but he clearly proved he belonged. The Celtics were usually prepared, flexible, and hard to beat.
The only knock is that the Celtics sometimes needed more emotional force late in playoff runs. They had talent, but they never broke through under Stevens as coach. Then he moved upstairs, became president of basketball operations, and eventually helped build the Celtics team that won the 2024 championship.
For May, Stevens is the model, but also a very high bar.
Stevens came into the NBA with patience from the front office, a rebuilding timeline, and a franchise that let him grow. May might have something similar with the Mavericks because they are coming off 26-56 and building around Cooper Flagg. That is better than walking into an old veteran team expecting 55 wins right now.
5. Reggie Theus
Reggie Theus was not the normal college genius hire. He had NBA credibility as a player, and that helped him get the Kings job in 2007. Before that, he coached New Mexico State for two seasons, went 41-23, and took them to the NCAA Tournament. It was a quick rise.
The Kings probably saw a coach with energy, personality, and player respect. Theus had played in the league, so he wasn’t walking in as someone with no NBA background. But it barely helped his case.
Theus went 38-44 in his first season, which was not bad at all considering the roster. Kevin Martin scored the ball, Ron Artest was still there, and the Kings were not good enough to be a real playoff team. A 38-win season looked like something to build on.
Then the second season started badly, and Theus was fired after a 6-18 start. His NBA coaching record ended at 44-62. That is not embarrassing, but it is short. He didn’t get enough time to really build anything.
6. Mike Montgomery
At Stanford, Mike Montgomery built one of the best programs on the West Coast. He took the team to the 1998 Final Four, won a lot, and had a reputation as a smart, steady coach. In college, his style worked for a long time.
The Warriors hired him in 2004, and that sounded interesting. They were looking for structure. Montgomery was coming from a high-level program and had a long record of getting teams organized.
But the NBA version was just average and kind of flat. Montgomery went 68-96 in two seasons. Both seasons finished 34-48, as the Warriors missed the playoffs both times, and then he was gone.
The team actually broke through right after him with Don Nelson, becoming the “We Believe” Warriors in 2007.
7. Leonard Hamilton
Leonard Hamilton’s NBA chapter was short and painful. The Wizards brought him in from Miami in 2000 after a strong college run, but he went just 19-63 in a messy situation during the Michael Jordan front-office era. The roster simply lacked talent and direction.
The Wizards were 24th in offensive rating and 20th in defensive rating in 2000-01. That is basically a bad team on both ends. They didn’t have enough talent, enough shooting, or enough star power. Hamilton was not going to turn that into a playoff group.
He bounced back successfully in college at Florida State, proving he could coach. The reminder for May is that no college pedigree protects you when the losses mount and the supporting cast isn’t there. Dallas at least has Flagg as a foundation.
8. Lon Kruger
Lon Kruger was another respected, adaptable college coach who had success at multiple programs, including a Final Four at Florida. The Hawks hired him in 2000, and he showed some improvement, going from 25-57 to 33-49 the next season, but still got fired in the third year with an overall 69-122 record.
The team had pieces like Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jason Terry, but never became a real playoff threat. They were stuck in that dangerous middle where they weren’t bad enough for patience but not good enough to matter.
If you are rebuilding, people can be patient. If you are winning, people are happy. If you are just stuck, everyone gets bored, and the coach gets blamed.
9. Tim Floyd
This was just one of the worst jobs possible. The Bulls hired Tim Floyd in 1998 after the dynasty ended. He stepped in after a genius like Phil Jackson, with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and the whole championship era moving on to new places. Good luck with that.
There was no normal way to win there. The Bulls were not reloading. They were starting over. Floyd came from Iowa State, where he had done a good job. But with the Bulls, he walked into a teardown. The roster was young, bad, and far away from winning.
His record with the Bulls was terrible: 49-190. Then he later coached the Pelicans (the Hornets back then) for one season in 2003-04 and went 41-41, losing in the first round. His full NBA record was 93-235.
That is the problem with bad timing. Sometimes a coach’s reputation gets cooked by the job he takes. Floyd’s Bulls went 13-37 in the lockout 99’ season, then 17-65 in 2000, then 15-67 after that, as he resigned after a 4-21 start in 2001.
10. Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino had the biggest name, and even prior NBA success with the Knicks (90-74), yet his Celtics tenure from 1997 still flopped (102-146 in Boston, no playoffs).
Pitino had just built Kentucky into a powerhouse. He won the 1996 national title and reached the 1997 title game. He was one of the biggest coaches in basketball. The Celtics gave him power, money, and control. He was not just the coach. He was also running basketball operations, and that became part of the issue.
The roster flipped constantly. The franchise missed the Tim Duncan lottery dream, and Pitino never found the star base he needed. His famous “Larry Bird isn’t walking through that door” moment captured the frustration perfectly.
Is May Destined For Failure?
Dusty May is not going to Dallas thinking everyone should treat him like a basketball genius just because he won at Michigan.
That is where many college coaches have failed before. In college, coaches often have full control. Players listen, the school supports them, and their word can feel final. In the NBA, it is not like that.
So no, May is not doomed. But history shows this move will not be easy. If he becomes more like Billy Donovan or Brad Stevens, the Mavericks will look very smart for hiring him. But if things go more like John Beilein’s NBA run, it could get bad fast.
The most likely answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
There are reasons to believe in him. Cooper Flagg is still young and growing. The team still has Kyrie Irving and some really good veteran pieces. Also, the Mavericks are not acting like they are ready to win right now after a 26-56 season. They are clearly rebuilding.
Still, May has to learn fast. In the NBA, what you did in college does not buy you respect for very long.
