Tony’s Take: Michigan to Dallas | Path | P.S. | What? | Milestone | Edition 100

By Tony Duckworth, [email protected]

Michigan to Dallas.  When Dusty May became a student manager for Indiana Hoosier legend Bob Knight in 1996, I’m certain he did not think he would be a national champion head coach 30 years later.  In addition to winning a naty this year, May is now head coach of the NBA Dallas Mavericks. 

May will be the third national champion college coach to depart for the Association, following cutting down the nets in March Madness.  Larry Brown, Kansas, made the jump in 1988, and Billy Donovan bolted Florida after winning back-to-back titles for the greener pastures of the NBA. 

Given the landscape of the NIL NCAA and transfer portal, I can’t imagine May will be the first to make the jump when the opportunity arises.  May is a prime example of how the new version of college sports allows one to rebuild a roster into a champion overnight.  That being said, this version of the wild west can be described as feast or famine.  As quickly as one builds a championship roster, a bad pickup in talent or poor chemistry can weigh down a squad, keeping a team from meeting its potential. 

May has demonstrated he is an elite head coach, but so much of coaching success comes from the jimmies and the joes, not the X’s and O’s.  May will inherit Duke product Cooper Flagg as the foundation of the Mavericks’ future.  Given Dusty May’s temperament, as long as the Mavericks brass brings in talent to complement Flagg, he will enjoy success in the professional ranks. 

Path.  Dusty May’s path to the NBA is nothing short of remarkable.  ESPN published an article on June 22, 2026, that chronicles May’s climb to the Association. From student manager in the BIG10 to video coordinator at USC, which led to assistant coaching stops at Eastern Michigan, Murray (KY) State, Alabama-Birmingham, Louisiana Tech, and Florida (’15 – ‘18) while UGA head coach Mike White led the Gators. 

Dusty emerged as a rising star in the college basketball coaching ranks following his improbable run as head coach at Florida Atlantic.  For those who enjoy a March Madness Cinderella, May led #9 seed FAU to the Final Four in 2023.  May’s back-to-back season records of 35 – 4 and 25 – 9 at FAU opened the door for him to come full circle and return to the BIG10 at Michigan.  May’s last four seasons as an intercollegiate basketball coach were an impressive 124 wins against 26 losses. That was a remarkable run. 

P.S.  Michigan’s AD should crawl on all fours to hire Billy Donovan. 

What?  @SBJ (Sports Business on X) has the tweet of the week.  “(The University of) Louisville athletics expects to run a record deficit of about $30 million in FY27, its fifth negative balance in eight years.   

The projected deficit is $18.8 million higher than the department’s $11.2 million deficit in FY26.”. 

It makes you wonder if the U of L Board of Trustees consists of members of the U.S. Congress. 

Milestone.  I can’t say I envisioned that I would write 100 editions of Tony’s Take when my first column ran in the Sports Page of the Albany Herald in July 2024. While I had been involved in sports most of my life, including three decades in intercollegiate athletics, I had never written a sports column.  Like it or not, here we are two years removed from my first edition until the century mark.   

There are times when it is a challenge to come up with topic(s).  I will say writing this column is a highlight of my week.  I begin putting “pen to paper” on Monday evenings with a Tuesday evening round of adding the finishing touches to the column.  I let the column rest overnight, and early Wednesday morning, I reread the column and made a few edits before I emailed the finished product to Sports Editor Joe Whitfield. 

I have no idea how many locals read my takes, but I do enjoy the comments some make to me in the community and the occasional email about the topics I write.  I appreciate the platform the Albany Herald provides this Maconite weekly, and I will continue to work to provide meaningful content to our local newspaper. 

Follow Tony Duckworth on the X platform at @tonyduckworthsr or email him at [email protected]. Duckworth is a native of Macon and is the President and CEO of the Albany Area YMCA. Tony worked in intercollegiate athletics for thirty-one years. He was an NCAA Division II Director of Athletics at three universities, including Albany State, following ten years as a head men’s basketball coach at two colleges.