Dusty May, Indiana men’s basketball’s latest prodigal son that wasn’t, is out of college basketball and off to the NBA, having been hired as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
May was born in Terre Haute and raised in Greene County before attending Indiana University and becoming a student manager under Bob Knight. His coaching star rose as fast as any other, going from the mid-major level in 2023 to Michigan in 2024 and now onto the NBA in 2026 after just two years in Ann Arbor, the latter concluding with a national championship in Indianapolis, of all places.
May’s return to Indiana would have been something out of an Indiana fan’s dreams but it, for several reasons, wasn’t meant to be. He, like Brad Stevens before him, led a different program to greatness before moving onto the NBA.
So, how do Indiana fans feel about May’s departure? We asked them.
The results aren’t surprising at all. May spent all of one game on the Assembly Hall sideline as an opposing head coach and it was probably enough. His presence then was already a reminder of what could have been, imagine if he spent years there with a national title or more to his name, the thing Indiana fans have craved for decades.
Indiana faces decently long odds in 2027, sitting at +6500 to win it all, per FanDuel Sportsbook.