Defend the Block 396 - Dusty May Transcript
8/11/2026 9:21:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Brian Boesch • 00:00
In the aftermath of the national championship run, it meant a lot that some people reached out about the comfort level that players and coaches had with me in interviews. But I would oftentimes add to the context of the situation by saying, in essence, to whom much is given, much is expected. And because the leader of the program set the tone in that area. Frankly, if I did not build legitimate relationships with those in the program, I wouldn't be doing my job. Unfortunately, that will continue now that Mike Boynton junior Is the head coach because he embraces that aspect of his new role similarly. But Dusty May, our guest today, did not have to sit down with me for almost twenty minutes. Just like he didn't have to do all the interviews he did in the days and weeks after winning the national championship or even before. He said yes pretty much whenever possible.
Brian Boesch • 00:51
And he did so to the massive outlets like Good Morning America, ESPN's First Take, the Rich Eisen Show, Barstool, CBS Mornings, all of that, but also to those who poured into him, even if their profile wasn't as large. Like the outstanding play by play voice at Florida Atlantic, Ken LaVicka, Dusty was on his podcast for more than a half hour just a few days after the national championship. Just like a week after the national championship win, Dusty did not have to go in person to Saint Louis to accept his National Coach of the Year award from the US Basketball Writers Association. There are plenty of other examples we could turn to. Now, we all know as fans that coaches can't answer every question. They cannot unveil anything that a fan or a journalist or broadcaster would ask. But I always appreciated and benefited from May's willingness to elaborate and be present in interview settings.
Brian Boesch • 01:47
And it is good for the sport, good for sports in general, that a coach won at the highest level possible while still embracing the content element of the sport, even in times where it would have been totally understandable to say no. So let's hear from Dusty on his NBA departure, the national title run, and Coach Boynton's new opportunity. Right here on Defend the Block.
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Jeff Laurence • 02:10
We're talking Michigan basketball. Welcome to Defend the Block, where we'll take you inside the basketball programs with interviews, analysis and so much more. Now is your host, Brian Boesch.
Brian Boesch • 02:23
I expected to have Dusty May on Defend the Block at some point this summer. I expected to do it in person. I didn't expect it to be with now the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. But Coach, I appreciate you making time. First off, you are in Ann Arbor. If you wouldn't mind sharing with fans why that is.
Dusty May • 02:38
Yeah, I had a hip procedure. I been discussing this for probably a year or two with Dr. Bedi and Chris Williams, our trainer, and I decided I can't make it eighty two games without being able to put on my socks every morning when I wake up. But it certainly feels odd being in here doing a podcast and it's not a Monday in February.
Brian Boesch • 02:56
I know it's quite warm outside, something you'll have to get used to. Let's talk about a lot of things, and I appreciate you carving out the time. First off, a lot has been discussed about the reason you selected the Dallas Mavericks. How difficult was it for you to, by making that selection, leave the University of Michigan?
Dusty May • 03:16
Well, it was incredibly difficult for me, especially for Anna and our family. And I've always maintained a strong process of thinking things out well in advance. And obviously, if anyone knows me, they've always known I've been infatuated with NBA. When I was young, I always said I wanted to finish up in the Euroleague somewhere coaching just to learn and grow and meet different people and different cultures and whatever the case. But this one was a couple years ahead of schedule. And when I just started thinking about all that's happening now and as far as, like not knowing what tomorrow looks like, not knowing what a year from now looks like, and we're all wired differently. I'm someone that security and planning is very important. Money has very little value to me other than giving me security to do whatever I want with my time as I get older.
Dusty May • 04:08
And so the volatility of everyday life and then factoring in, I think if you had a we all have a criteria and what's important to us in life, Dallas checked a lot of those boxes. When you factor in the leadership, my respect and admiration for Masai, my friendship with Mike Schmitz that goes back from traveling the globe, being lifers in this game stretches back probably fifteen, twenty years. And then Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving and a strong core of guys that if we can get healthy, we feel like we have a group to grow with. We have a young team, a team that if you take a few guys away, might be a little bit older than might be even younger than our, our Michigan team last year at a few spots. So it just made sense. And I try not to make impulsive decisions, but this one is a little more impulsive than I typically make them.
Brian Boesch • 04:57
Maybe not Perfect Storm then, but is it fair to say that a lot needed to go right in the other direction for you to leave Michigan? Is that a fair Assessment?
Dusty May • 05:06
Yeah, and timing is everything, obviously, but. And even talking to people that I love and respect and trust, they all share the same sentiment that this one's gonna, that one's a tough one to turn down or that one makes sense for all the reasons. And if you're okay never getting another one. And I thought there'd be, I'd have an opportunity to get one of these at some point, assuming we continue to, or at least close to the level we've been winning. But I didn't know if you'd be able to get it in a state that's growing like Texas, that has the quality of life that they have. All the other factors as far as an organization that's committed to winning, an owner that is approachable and affable, as I can imagine any would be in professional sports. So, yeah, I would say Perfect Storm is a great way to describe it.
Brian Boesch • 05:55
Probably the most common question I've gotten just in, hey, you've been around Dusty for a couple of years is would a loss in the NCAA tournament have changed the math at all? The fact that this team last year won the title, did that make it easier? Would it have been. I, I joked with you. We were talking yesterday and you know, Nimari Burnett cited the. Well, I guess we'll never know. It's. It's easy to talk about things in, for instances, but if Michigan loses to UConn or Arizona or before that, does that change the math significantly to you?
Dusty May • 06:29
You know, I never really deal in hypotheticals or at least try not to. But in, in this case, I would say it would be safe to assume that. No, I would. That Banner, the legacy that that team left is, is what we're all striving for. And like I said, during and shortly thereafter, you know, when you're on the line, the ladder, you're like, this is it. But you know, being even a few months removed, if I see a clip on Twitter or if I see a video on YouTube, I just think back, I think about the memories, the experiences, what that team went through beginning last summer. And yes, it looked like we were a well oiled machine at times, but it took a lot of people pulling in the same direction for that to happen. So I don't think so. But you never know. Once again, this one presented so many unique opportunities that I just felt like I'll never be able to get one like this at a time like this as well.
Brian Boesch • 07:31
You were pretty upfront about the fact that the pinnacle didn't feel like the pinnacle when you Got there because of how quick so many things had to happen. When do you think last season you were at your. The happiest moment and memory from last season? Thirty seven wins, so many accomplishments, three banners, the center banner. Is there a moment that stands out that it seems like it wasn't the immediate aftermath of the national championship?
Dusty May • 07:57
No. When I speak of my most fond memories with last year's group, it is. It's in the meeting rooms and on the practice floor. It's around the facility. Because those guys had so much respect for each other and they really appreciated what the others brought to the table. And that's not always the case. There's. In this climate, there's envy, there's jealousy on a lot of teams. I think at every level now, guys are looking at what other people are making. I think that's human nature, where the comparison piece with social media and all the things that these guys have to go through, it's real. And so because of that, it's almost impossible to be happy, because even if you're happy, the people around you can't let you be happy because they want you to make more money and they need to make more money off of you and things like that. So I think it's just the actual, I guess, the group mantra of us doing this all together.
Dusty May • 08:50
We all know why we came here and why would we deviate from that. And that's the best part of last year's team, is that, look, people can talk about retention and all this. You know, there's a team in our league that was preseason number one in the country and had more retention than anyone else, and they finished seventh in our conference. It's having the right people because sometimes it happened to us at FAU, sometimes that retention guys get tired of each other's stuff. Sometimes they. There needs to be an infusion of talent or personality or leadership or whatever it is that changes the team dynamics. And so I just think that that last team choosing to be completely different, where they didn't care about winning individual awards or accolades, I'm sure they did deep down, but it was never a priority. And because of that, I think what we did was really good for the sport of basketball because Yaxel and those guys all average less than fourteen points per game.
Dusty May • 09:46
They all sacrifice as much as any players on an individual level in the country. And then they also were able to win a couple championships along the way
Brian Boesch • 09:53
and three top twelve picks. You were at the draft just a little bit more than twenty four hours after the News came out about the Mavericks. First off, how's Rez doing in Dallas?
Dusty May • 10:02
Rez is doing well. I haven't seen him in a few weeks. Once summer league concludes, everyone kind of scatters and goes their own way. But I spoke with him yesterday. He's in good spirits. Really, really excited to see his growth at the next level and be a situation where his timeline fits some other players on the team that will be there for a while. And the unique thing about Rez is he's going to figure out whatever our team needs to do to win and he's going to try to plug those holes. So it's nice to be a part of his journey just because I know who he is as a person. But for him to go ninth after where he was a year ago is a real tribute to first his work ethic and then also the people in our program that surrounded him on the court, in the weight room and everyone around him. Because that's when you have guys that go from, you know, I guess would have been an early second, late first if he stayed in last year and in a die and Merez weren't really on any radars for them to all three be lottery picks it there's a lot of elbow grease from a lot of people.
Brian Boesch • 11:01
Your reactions I'm sure were great for all three but the Aday one was on the telecast. Do you remember what your initial thoughts were? Because you fist pumped you were fired up. Was it because of your respect for the Thunder?
Dusty May • 11:11
No, not at all. It was more. I, I kind of expected one of them to drop. I've just watched enough draft NBA draft telecast and then even last year to see Danny potentially go as high as fourteen and then dropped into the twenties. I just in my mind felt like one of these guys are going to drop. It's going to be two of them will be gone and they'll be elated and then there's one of them that's going to be disappointed and for all three to go off the board and then just for myself it felt like, okay, this is closure to that chapter and now it's time to move on to the next. These three guys are, they're, they're where they need to be. They're in great positions and also a little bit of, you know, I guess just thinking back to what other people said about some of those guys and some of our competitors and when you're recruiting, what's being said about you when, when they're recruiting against you and so a little bit of it was probably a little bit of pettiness on my part, but it just felt great to have that no.
Dusty May • 12:13
One slide to do what others thought, you know, was crazy and for it to work. And so yeah, it was just a, it was just a final, it was like a culmination of all that. And then now it's time to turn the page.
Brian Boesch • 12:23
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Brian Boesch • 13:16
We're with head coach Dusty May, former Wolverine head coach, now with the Dallas Mavericks. You talk about looking ahead. I'm curious your perspective on Mike Boynton junior Can you start with just kind of how you tried to give him the heads up that this Mavericks thing might be happening and why you wanted to go to bat for him with Michigan leadership?
Dusty May • 13:38
Well, as we all see, anytime anything happens or doesn't happen, Twitter, there's, there's a firestorm and you may not even be involved in a job and you hear your name every time the job's brought up. And so as soon as I felt like this was gaining a little bit of traction because I had no idea, I knew the Mavericks were going to go through a search and they were going to, they wanted to speak with a couple college guys, a couple assistants and a couple former head coaches or sitting head coaches. I don't know exactly what it was and so I thought this could be, this could be something that happens or it doesn't, I don't really know what they're looking forward and they're not leaking any information as well. And when I decided to meet with them, I told, I told Mike, I said, hey, this is gaining some traction. I don't know what's going to happen, but it's definitely picking up some steam.
Dusty May • 14:26
I think you should definitely have a plan ready, a plan of attack ready for when it does go down where you know what direction you're going to go in or what you need to be. Because look, we have to prioritize every minute of the day. And so for him to start prioritizing what he needed to do if it did happen, and then once I met with them, I told him, I said, hey, unless there's a change of heart right now, my heart is I'm going to do this. I said, I still have to meet with some people and do some things, but unless I change my mind, I'm probably going to do this. So I would make sure you're ready to go.
Brian Boesch • 15:01
Why do you think and why do you believe by, you know, putting in a word for Mike that he's going to be successful in this role?
Dusty May • 15:07
Well, I think he'll be successful. Obviously he's a proven head coach and there's nothing like experience of sitting that seat, especially in a pressure cook cooker environment like the big twelve. And look, if I would, I got FAU and I wasn't ready. I don't think any first time head coach is ever ready. And because there was eight people at our games and there's no pressure, I was able to literally learn, grow, experiment, throw stuff at the wall, be really, really bad before we could be great. And he never had that opportunity. So he's thrown into and in an environment where you don't really, you don't take chances and you don't go with your gut as much as you protect, I think what's been done before. And so I think you factor in all the stuff that he probably would have done if he would have been in the environment that I was in at FAU and then the daily learning that we do here in our growth processes I think is as good as anywhere in basketball.
Dusty May • 16:08
So I think we obviously we've all gotten a lot better in the last two years. And so you factor that in with the relationship building that he does and once again the quality of the staff. I mean, I've said this repeatedly, it wasn't me, it wasn't him, it was everything we did. I mean we worked well together, we shot holes in everything we did. We worked in pods. And so obviously there has to be a final decision maker with every, with everything. But for the most part we, we had a lot of like knockdown, drag out meetings where we, we wanted to find the right answer for us. And so I think you, you, you, you just look at all that and what better situation for our players to be in where not much is going to change. They know exactly what they signed up before, and it's not much different now. So it seemed like a seamless transition. And also, I think his leadership style is very similar to mine.
Dusty May • 17:00
We're educators, we're teachers, and we're simply trying to make everyone that's around us better because we're around and how much
Brian Boesch • 17:07
we're trying to grow the evolution of the role to where Mike will now deal directly with basketball less, that's probably a significant change even from when he was at Oklahoma State. What is important to understand when you probably didn't even, it's fair to say you didn't even spend the majority of your time strictly on basketball. When you're the head coach at the University of Michigan.
Dusty May • 17:28
Fundraising and basketball, I mean, I think it's. Those two things are split. It's just different basketball where you're, you're thinking of the big picture, where at FAU, for example, I spent a lot of time one on one or in small groups. And here I had to be much more selective with who I watched film with daily. It had to be much more impactful. I was always there. But you know, when things aren't going well with Will Tschetter, I had to spend time with him because we knew we were going to need him the next game. And just to keep everyone in the right mind space. And I think if you don't have all the other things going on, you can do that with five to ten guys versus one to three guys on a daily basis. So the basketball part, that was always going to be something I was going to spend time on because that's what I enjoyed doing. But it was just a different relationship with the game and with the players.
Brian Boesch • 18:16
Lastly, for you to make the impact you did, not just on the program, but with the fans and the two years you were here, of course, the winning has a lot to do with that, but I remember back to the first game at Crisler, your first year, and you said, we'll give them a month to pack the place. And I don't know if your team played in front of less than a sellout the rest of your time here. What did the fan base, the passion, this community mean to you?
Dusty May • 18:38
Well, I think, number one, the way we were embraced, it was such a great fit for our family, for my personality, for the staff, the way they operated and the way our fans appreciate teamwork, the right things. When you watch Michigan football do what they did for the number of years that they've done it, and you watch Coach Beilein's teams play with the chemistry and camaraderie they did. They're used to seeing the games played a certain way when they were at their highest level. And so I think we had the same values and standards. And then on top of that, we never had any entitlement to the fans should simply come and watch us play because we're here. It was more of we appreciated them, we appreciated their energy, we appreciated their effort to help us to be a part of it. And, you know, we weren't going to take it for granted and just expect them to show up.
Dusty May • 19:29
We were going to go out and we were going to present a vision and hopefully they would buy into it. And then you have to win and play a certain way for it to get to the level we got it to. But I think the appreciation and gratitude is ultimately why they were able to buy in and be such a big a part of our success.
Brian Boesch • 19:47
Well, I appreciate it. I'm grateful for you, for all you did. Not just with these interviews over the years and now after the fact, but but also allowing Terry and Tony and me to spend a Monday night in April in Indianapolis and the aftermath of that. So wish you all the best. Looking forward to seeing you here and there. And glad we still got Eli around too. You know, he went with the buzz cut as soon as you got the job. It looked like he was starting to, you know, be a little firmer, you know, rebrand.
Dusty May • 20:11
Eli's rebranding himself. He's no longer the coach's son. He's just one of the guys. And I think that he was actually very open to that, that he looked at it as a positive. He was gonna have some new coaches to learn from, he was gonna have a new group to develop, and he just wanted to be one of the guys. And ultimately, that's one of the things that makes our entire group special. The players. You bring in, these five star guys or these guys who are number one in the portal or number seven in the portal, and when they get here because of the environment, they all want to be just one of the guys because they're surrounded by great guys. And if you're not that, then you stand out in the wrong way. And so that's another testament to the great thing about Michigan is just these are great people and human beings that represent the fan base.
Brian Boesch • 20:56
Will the Rez-Dusty postgame interviews continue? Do we know that yet?
Dusty May • 21:01
I hope not, but I'm not gonna put Rez in a box. I'm not sure how it works out. Hopefully they're interviewing players, everything.
Brian Boesch • 21:07
Fair enough. I don't. I don't know the protocols, but maybe
Dusty May • 21:10
I'll get a step ladder and mean mug him in the same fashion.
Brian Boesch • 21:13
Coach, thanks as always.
Dusty May • 21:14
Thanks, Brian. Appreciate it.
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Brian Boesch • 21:23
As mentioned off the top, my gratefulness for Dusty May and also my gratefulness that Mike Boynton Junior has that same approach. We heard it from him a few weeks ago on the podcast as we got a download from him about a month into the job. Excited to share more with him and this program, but also fun to look back at one of two coaches in Michigan men's basketball history to ever win a national championship. So again, thanks to Dusty May. Thanks to all of you. Much more on this coming season as we continue along through August and beyond here on Defend the Block. Go Blue.
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Jeff Laurence • 21:57
Thanks for listening to today's edition of Defend the Block, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast network, M GO Blue Podcasts. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
