The Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball program looked set up to be the sport’s next dynasty after the first two years of the Dusty May head coach experience culminated in a national championship. However, the Wolverines were dealt a major blow on Monday, when it was reported that May would be leaving the school to take the Dallas Mavericks head coaching job.
“BREAKING: University of Michigan coach Dusty May has agreed to become the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell me, (Adam Schefter), (Pete Thamel). Major college-to-pro jump for the 2026 NCAA championship coach and swing for the Mavericks and Masai Ujiri,” reported ESPN’s Shams Charania.
It didn’t take long for Michigan superfan and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy to give his unfiltered thoughts on the development.
“I’ve had, I don’t know, a couple of minutes to process it. And you can’t be mad. Like, it sucks for Michigan, no doubt,” Portnoy said of May’s departure in a video posted to X. “But this is what happens when you’re a great college coach. Pitino, Calipari, guys want to go to the next level. This isn’t musical chairs. This isn’t going to another school in the conference. This isn’t going to another college program. This is a guy who’s going— won a national championship at Michigan.
More thoughts on Dusty leaving and why it’s the Michigan curse. pic.twitter.com/kBGlU96Yts
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 22, 2026
“He’s like: ‘I need to challenge myself at the highest levels, uh, the professional leagues.’ We saw with Harbaugh. Harbaugh wins at Michigan, he wants to go challenge himself in the NFL. It’s what unfortunately the Michigan curse is, because when you win and you’re a Michigan man at the highest levels, it’s in our blood, it’s in our DNA. Like, we want the hardest challenge, the champions of the champions, leaders and best.
“We want to go to the professional level and succeed on the highest professional level known to man. That’s the social contract you sign when you become a Michigan man. It’s not Tim, uh, Tommy Izzo, who lives in college world and can’t hack it in the big one, gets his f*cking face kicked in and lives there. It’s not, uh, Krzyzewski, afraid to take that next step and always needs to be in the college. No, these are Michigan men.
“Michigan men, you always strive for that highest level. And yeah, it sucks when you win at college and make it look easy and kick everybody’s face in. It’s like, what is that next challenge? That’s something only the Block M understands. So it absolutely sucks because when you win your national championships, like we did in football, like we’ve done in basketball, you’re going to lose guys who say that DNA, that maize and blue that courses through my veins, say I need the next challenge.”
The post ‘It’s not Tommy Izzo’: Dave Portnoy breaks his silence on Dusty May leaving Michigan for NBA job appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.
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