The Dallas Mavericks have begun their search for a new head coach in earnest, and the early names on their list are turning heads — because two of them currently work in college basketball.
Following the firing of Jason Kidd, the Mavericks have reached out to a pair of high-profile college coaches to gauge their interest in the vacancy, according to a report from The Stein Line. Michigan's Dusty May and Duke's Jon Scheyer have both surfaced as targets the franchise is willing to at least explore, even if the basketball world widely regards either hire as a long shot.
May, who guided Florida Atlantic to a stunning Final Four run before taking over at Michigan and quickly returning the Wolverines to national relevance, has been the most concretely linked of the two. The Detroit Free Press reported that Dallas reached out to May about the opening, a detail that lends the rumor more weight than the typical offseason speculation. Scheyer, who succeeded Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and has kept the Blue Devils among the sport's elite, has been mentioned alongside him as an ambitious, if improbable, swing.
Both candidacies have drawn skepticism. Yahoo Sports characterized the May-and-Scheyer pairing as a "pipe-dream" scenario that "won't happen," reflecting the reality that established, successful college coaches rarely abandon their programs for the volatility of an NBA bench — particularly when their current jobs offer stability, recruiting pipelines and outsized influence over their rosters.
Still, the interest underscores what is at stake in Dallas. The Mavericks are no longer a team in transition; they are a team with a foundation worth building around. Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, delivered an A-plus rookie season and has already established himself as the cornerstone of the franchise's future. Whoever takes the job inherits the responsibility of accelerating his development — a point CBS Sports framed directly in asking which candidates can best help Flagg "level up" in Dallas.
That context helps explain the appeal of a player-developer like May, whose teams are known for their structure, spacing and modern offensive principles. A coach capable of maximizing a young, versatile forward while integrating Dallas's veteran pieces would be an ideal fit for a roster that suddenly looks ahead of schedule.
The Mavericks are not expected to limit themselves to the college ranks. Sports Illustrated reported that Dallas is expected to speak with several established names, and the team's list is likely to include experienced NBA assistants and former head coaches as the process unfolds. The college outreach may ultimately function as due diligence — a way of turning over every stone — rather than a genuine pursuit.
For now, the takeaway is clear: Dallas is thinking big. A franchise that endured a turbulent stretch under Kidd is signaling that it wants a coach who can match the ceiling of its young star, and it is willing to make uncomfortable phone calls to find one.
Whether either college titan picks up is another matter entirely. But the fact that the Mavericks are dialing at all tells you how seriously they are treating this hire — and how much they believe is riding on getting it right with Cooper Flagg's prime years approaching.
