The most consequential moment of the college basketball coaching carousel came on the eve of the 2026 NBA Draft, when the Dallas Mavericks plucked Dusty May away from his post at Michigan to succeed Jason Kidd. The move came less than three months after Michigan won the national title.
May wasn't the only college coach the Mavericks pursued before deciding on who would lead the franchise next. NBA insider Marc Stein reported earlier this summer that Dallas and Duke coach Jon Scheyer -- who coached Mavs star and former No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg -- was among the coaches the franchise had "exploratory" conversations with.
On the Glue Guys Podcast, Scheyer opened up about why he stayed at Duke despite NBA interest.
"Anybody that knows me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself not seeing this thing through," Scheyer said. "That's just the bottom line. I'm at a one-of-one place where not often you get your dream job when you're 33. That's what happened to me. ... I think we have so much left to do. So much left to accomplish. We talked about my family earlier; this is where my family is, this is home for me."
Scheyer, who is entering his fifth season at the helm of the Duke program, has led his alma mater to the Elite Eight three times, including a Final Four appearance in 2025. The Blue Devils' 2025-26 season ended after UConn star Braylon Mullins knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a second remaining to send his team to the Final Four.
During his first four seasons as a head coach, Duke has posted a 124-25 record but is still seeking the program's first national title since 2015, when Scheyer was an assistant coach on Mike Krzyzewski's staff. During the last two seasons, Duke's season has ended via a fierce second-half comeback by the opposing team.
In 2025, Duke lost to Houston in the national semifinals despite leading by 13 points with less than nine minutes remaining. In the loss to UConn, Duke led by as many as 19 points before UConn stormed back in the second half to reach the Final Four for the third time in four years.
The Blue Devils are ranked No. 2 behind Florida in Gary Parrish's CBS Sports Top 25 and 1. Duke is one of the top favorites to cut down the nets in Detroit next spring after bringing back Dame Sarr, Cayden Boozer, Patrick Ngongba II, Caleb Foster and adding former Wisconsin star John Blackwell via the transfer portal.
"The NBA is obviously the highest level of whatever you can do," Scheyer said. "In my own world, I know this is where I'm supposed to be now, doing what I'm doing with our guys."
