Dusty May rocked college basketball in June when he became the first college basketball coach to leave for an NBA job since John Beilein also left Michigan for the professional ranks in 2019. Coming off a national title with the Wolverines, May took his storybook rise through the coaching profession to the ultimate stage. He signed on to coach a franchise that appeared in the 2024 NBA Finals and is reloading with the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year in Cooper Flagg.
May’s rationale made sense. At 49, he reached the summit of the college game by completing a remarkable two-year turnaround with a Wolverines program that finished just 8-24 the season before his arrival. Yet, even after reaching such monumental heights by delivering the program its first national title since 1989, there was no time for May to enjoy the accomplishment.
Why Dusty May leaving Michigan and college basketball behind in June isn’t remotely surprising
Matt Norlander
The transfer portal beckoned, and the pressure to build another contender infiltrated any effort to truly appreciate the significance of delivering a championship. Amid the fluctuating dynamics (some would call it lawlessness) in college basketball and looming uncertainty over how the Protect College Sports Act might change things again, he was given an appealing off-ramp.
May chose to take it. Now the question is who will be next to make the jump? College coaches poached by NBA franchises have mixed track records, and there was a 7-year gap between Beilein and May. But at some point, another college coach will make the move to the professional ranks. There is too much allure.
For this edition of the Dribble Handoff, our writers are predicting who will be next.
Luke Loucks, Florida State
It might be hard to envision now, considering that Loucks is just 36 and has only been Florida State’s coach for one season. But the context of just how infrequently this happens is important. Seven years elapsed between John Beilein leaving Michigan for the Cavaliers and Dusty May leaving Michigan for the Mavericks. In that time, a whopping total of zero NBA head coaches were hired from the collegiate ranks.
There is plenty of time for Loucks to cement his reputation as a great coach before the NBA coaching carousel comes knocking on college basketball’s door again. His first season at Florida State portended great promise, and the 36-year-old Loucks has a background that will be appealing to professional organizations. He worked in the NBA from 2016-25 with the Warriors, Suns and Kings before returning to FSU, his alma mater, as head coach for the 2025-26 season.
It’s hard to see Loucks leaving his alma mater for another college job. But he’s also too young to be a lifer in Tallahassee. Given his NBA background and strong career trajectory, he’s a prime candidate to wind up patrolling an NBA sideline at some point in the next decade. — David Cobb
Jon Scheyer, Duke
It should come as no surprise that Scheyer generated NBA interest this past cycle. Marc Stein reported shortly after the Mavericks moved on from Jason Kidd that Scheyer could receive interest for the job. Of course, the connections between Scheyer and former No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg are well documented, as he coached the former Duke star during the 2024-25 season. In the end, Dallas hired Dusty May, and Scheyer stayed put at Duke. It was the right decision … for now.
Duke is still trying to get over the hump during its new era with Scheyer at the helm. The program reached the Final Four with Flagg in 2025 and lost in the Elite Eight against UConn after one of the worst collapses in recent memory during the NCAA Tournament. On paper, Scheyer has once again assembled a loaded roster at Duke. He is a talent acquisition specialist. The Blue Devils might have the deepest roster in college basketball this season and should be firmly in the mix to win the national title. When/if that happens, that’s when I can see Scheyer jumping to the NBA. — Cameron Salerno
Todd Golden, Florida
When you do historic things like win a National Championship at 39 years old with zero top-100 recruits on the roster for the first time in the modern era, you’re going to get some sniffs from the highest ranks of basketball. The opportunity would have to be right, and Golden has no reason to rush out of Gainesville, but there’s a competitive aspect to all of this. You really think Golden does not see all the comments about Dusty May being the best coach in the country? You really think his competitive juices aren’t there to prove he could do it, too?
Also, Golden was at the forefront of leaning into skilled size in roster-building, which is exactly in line with what the supersized NBA is all about.
You can make a good case for Duke’s Jon Scheyer. I think Boston College’s Luke Murray and Illinois assistant Tyler Underwood are firmly on the radar as well — maybe not as head coaches but as offensive coordinators — but Golden is the choice here. — Isaac Trotter
Kevin Young, BYU
Young has only been a Division I head coach for two seasons — but both resulted in trips to the NCAA Tournament, meaning things are going well at BYU. The fact that much of the 44 year-old’s career has been spent in the professional ranks, including a stint with Phoenix that had him working daily with future Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, already has Young on NBA radars, and having just helped develop No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa obviously doesn’t hurt. Simply put, I wasn’t surprised when the Chicago Bulls kicked the tires on Young earlier this offseason in their attempt to replace Billy Donovan, and I won’t be surprised when his name comes up again, presumably next summer. Whether Young ever makes the jump from the Big 12 to that league is clearly up to him. But what Donovan and May have more or less told us with their career choices is that there’s something very appealing about leaving the chaotic and unsure nature of college athletics behind for a nice NBA job, and that’s why most — not all, but certainly most — successful college coaches I know are intrigued by the possibility. — Gary Parrish
