The college basketball world was turned upside down on Monday as one-time Florida assistant Dusty May, fresh off a national title with Michigan, is going to jump ship and take the head coaching job of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. Dallas fired Jason Kidd last month after five years in charge.
The move has indirect implications for Florida, as the Gators watched Todd Golden get linked to the NBA as well. May’s departure is a reminder of the reality that lies ahead.
Florida fans should take notice of Dusty May’s departure from Michigan
In less than a decade, May has gone from an assistant to Mike White to an NBA head coach. Hell, two years ago, he was still at FAU, and the idea of May going to the NBA seemed wild. But after winning a national title with Michigan in fairly dominant fashion this year, May saw an opportunity to jump and he took it. According to sources, the opportunity to coach Cooper Flagg and the ever-shifting landscape of college basketball were what pushed May to take the NBA job.
It’s that latter part that Florida fans should take notice of when thinking about Todd Golden and his future with Florida. It is no secret that Golden has his eyes on one day making the jump to the NBA. Just how far away that jump is is still unknown, but it feels closer than most fans want to admit.
Golden himself has been in the middle of calling out the ever-changing world of college basketball and made it clear he was unhappy with Alabama’s efforts to get Charles Bediako cleared this past season. He also called out LSU’s offseason efforts to fill its roster with guys who should have LinkedIn profiles instead.
Golden, for the most part, has tried to stay away from pulling such roster tricks, but does there come a point where he gets frustrated with the entire system, because at the end of the day, he just wants to coach basketball?
It’s not to say that the grass would be greener on the NBA side, and for example, his base salary right now with Florida is the same base salary that former Gator coach Billy Donovan had with Chicago this past season ($6 million).
But just like the professional ranks took Donovan and Steve Spurrier away from Gainesville, Dusty May is a reminder that a school can do everything right, win a national championship, and still watch their coach walk out the door.
Florida fans are just hoping that Golden’s jump isn’t anytime in the near future.
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