Dusty May Says 'Nothing's Getting Fixed' in CBB, Opens Up on Decision to Leave Michigan for NBA

New Dallas Mavericks head coach Dusty May suggested this week that the state of college basketball played a significant role in his decision to leave his role as head coach at the University of Michigan after winning a national championship last season.

Speaking to CJ Moore of The Athletic, May said that a negative experience at the Big Ten spring meetings made him open to making the move to the NBA, saying, "I was so excited for Big Ten meetings, like, 'We're going to find some solutions.' I go there and I was just like, 'Oh my God, nothing's getting fixed. Ever.'"

The "fix" May was hoping for was seemingly related to NIL and the transfer portal, as he lamented the difficulties of getting a commitment and locking the player in during this new era of college basketball, saying, "Even when you sign, you're not really signed; to me is the biggest issue."

May noted that Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz contacted him about Dallas' head coaching job shortly after he returned from the Big Ten meetings, and given how things went down, he was amenable to the idea.

In addition to the draw of getting to coach the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year and a potential future superstar in Cooper Flagg, May suggested that getting to focus primarily on coaching was a major draw.

May acknowledged that much of his time was spent on other things, such as fundraising, while at Michigan, saying, "I just spent so much more of my time doing everything but coaching."

While May admitted that he always wanted to have an opportunity to coach in the NBA at some point, the opportunity came far more quickly than anyone could have imagined, as he spent just two seasons as the head coach at Michigan after six years in that role at Florida Atlantic.

Although the headaches involved with NIL and the transfer portal are now a thing of the past for May, he gave some suggestions on what he feels needs to be done in order to improve college basketball.

"Collective bargaining in some way, shape or form needs to happen," May said. "And number two, figure out a way to make contracts binding.

"Like, you can't have a kid sign at this Big Ten school on a Friday and then go on an official visit the next day and sign at another Big Ten school for twice the money on Tuesday. It just can't be like that. If they are gonna sign rev-share contracts and they're gonna sign NIL contracts, let's at least make those binding."

Player contracts are indeed binding in the NBA, meaning one of May's major pain points at the college level should no longer be an issue.

Now, May must focus on bringing the Mavs back to prominence after they missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

The sting of trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers a couple of seasons ago still lingers, but with Flagg and Kyrie Irving leading the way, the pieces may be in place for May to lead a quick turnaround.