Three immediate thoughts on reports that Dusty May is leaving Michigan to coach the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
1) May leaving the Wolverines is good news for Ohio State coach Jake Diebler, who in March of 2024, was promoted from interim coach to lead the Buckeyes, one week before UM hired May away from Florida Atlantic. May was available when OSU athletic director Ross Bjork elevated Diebler to top dog.
Diebler insists he feels no extra pressure to win big after May led Michigan to the NCAA Tournament title in April, but it is natural to compare Ohio State’s program progression to Michigan’s. And Diebs and the Buckeyes come out on the wrong side of that comparison. It took May two seasons to win a national title. It took Diebler two seasons just to make the NCAA Tournament. With May gone, the head-to-head scorecard no longer pertains.
2) May’s departure does not mean Michigan will crater. The UM job is the most attractive in the Big Ten, in no small part because in 2025-26, the school reportedly spent at least $10 million – some estimates claim more than $15 million – on its roster via NIL, most in the conference and about double what Ohio State is thought to have spent.
If NIL keeps flowing into Ann Arbor, and there is no reason to think it won’t, the Wolverines will continue to attract top transfer portal talent, and also be a choice landing spot for coaches who have shown they can win big. Might UM be interested in John Calipari, and vice versa? What about Rick Pitino? Too old? The most obvious choice would be Billy Donovan, who won two national championships at Florida and recently stepped down as coach of the Chicago Bulls.
3) Remember May’s sudden departure the next time you’re tempted to criticize college athletes for jumping ship. With a few exceptions (see Lane Kiffin), coaches generally escape heavy criticism when leaving one job for another. The behavior often is excused under the guise of “They’re adults who have to make a living and feed their families.” The athletes, meanwhile, get hammered for failing to be true to their school. Bah.
With all the NIL money floating around, transferring has become a financial decision more than anything. You might not like it, and I don’t always approve of the way transfers are handled, but it’s become increasingly hypocritical to insist that what’s good for coaches is not applicable to athletes.
Further, athletes transferring to bigger schools for broader exposure and to face more talented competition is similar to coaches like May jumping to the pros. Coaches want to coach the best players in the world, just like college players want to compete against the best peer group available.
Golf needs more personalities like Wyndham Clark
As Wyndham Clark made his way around Shinnecock Hills Golf Club during the final round of the U.S. Open, I found myself at first rooting against him, only to change my allegiance as the Long Island, New York, galleries carved him up with inappropriate shouts of “Don’t choke” and tried to hex his shots by yelling “Get in the bunker.”
By the time Clark tapped in for par on the final hole to secure his second U.S. Open title in four years, I was glad he had defeated the galleries as well as runner-up Sam Burns by one stroke.
I like Burns and I’m not super keen on Clark, but any player who can hold up under the pressure of potentially choking away a six-stroke lead while 99% of the crowd is against you deserves support.
But more than that, golf needs more so-called villains like Clark to keep things interesting. Not that Clark wants to be the bad guy, but the 32-year-old wears the black hat well.
It’s not just the temper tantrum he threw during the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, when he destroyed two lockers after missing the cut, that has earned him criticism. He also tossed his driver on the tee at the 2025 PGA Championship, snapping the club in half, damaging an advertising sign and nearly striking a volunteer. He plays slowly, has issued awkward and sometimes offensive comments, has “liked” conspiratorial postings on social media and more than once has been involved in curious officials’ rulings that did not involve cheating but took advantage of the situation.
What Clark isn’t is phony. Think of him as a more authentic Bryson DeChambeau. And the PGA Tour needs more players willing to be real.
Listening in
“All for one. One for all. WE completed the mission together as brothers, and that’s all that matters to me…” – Kyrie Irving, posting on Instagram to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cleveland winning the NBA title.
Off-topic
Yellow perch or walleye? I grew up a stone’s throw from Lake Erie when the water was so polluted that fish needed to take a bath after swimming in it. Back then, because of the filthy H2O, walleye were not nearly as abundant as they are today, so we fished for, caught and ate lake perch. (Beware: Yellow perch and ocean perch, the species sold in most Columbus and national restaurants, are not the same thing. Yellow perch is a culinary delight. Ocean perch is not. There is also a white perch, which lives in freshwater but is not as delicious as its yellow cousin.)
Walleye is excellent, but given a choice, I’ll take yellow perch. Come at me.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dusty May dashes to NBA; golf needs more villains like Wyndham Clark
Reporting by Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
