when can – Dusty May’s move from Michigan to the Dallas Mavericks sets off NCAA transfer timing rules. A special 15-day portal window opens five days after Michigan hires or publicly announces a new coach, with additional conditions tied to deadlines and the 2026 champio
Dusty May left Ann Arbor with a banner year still fresh—an NCAA title won in his second season. By the time the calendar flipped to Dallas, the question for Michigan felt immediate: what happens to the players who remain?
Michigan’s roster is already changing. Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. have declared for the draft as first-round selections. For the others, the path back into market dynamics runs through the NCAA transfer portal—but not right away.
Dusty May. who led Michigan to the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament championship. will take the head coaching position of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks went 26-56 in 2025-26 and finished 12th in the Western Conference. Their optimism is partly rooted in the roster foundation for what comes next. including a top-10 pick in a loaded 2026 NBA Draft class and 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg.
Under NCAA rules, a head coaching change can create a special transfer portal window. The mechanics matter because they determine whether players must wait—or can act soon after Michigan announces its next coach.
Five days after Michigan hires, the portal opens
The NCAA says that on Jan. 14, 2026, the Division I Cabinet enacted immediate rules changes for the transfer portal, including for teams in a coaching change.
When a head coaching change occurs, a 15-day period opens five days after the new head coach is hired or publicly announced.
If a new head coach is not announced within 30 days of Dusty May’s departure—and if the 31st day after the head coach’s departure is after the championship game—another 15-day window will open. That additional head coach departure window is available only after the basketball transfer window opens through Jan. 2.
The NCAA also describes a separate 15-day transfer window tied to the championship timeline. That window opens the day following the championship game, which in 2026 was on April 4.
For Michigan players, the timing is the whole story: if the program names its next coach quickly, the five-days-after-hire window becomes the relevant opportunity; if not, the backup window depends on the 30-day and championship-game conditions laid out by the NCAA.
Recruiting remains strong even as coaching shifts
While the transfer portal timetable sets the next move for many players, Michigan’s recruiting profile is still being built for the long term. Michigan’s 2026 high school recruiting class ranks No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten, according to 247Sports’ Composite rankings.
The incoming group includes five-star prospects and top national recruits: Brandon McCoy Jr. is listed as a 5-star, No. 10 player nationally and No. 2 PG; Quinn Costello is a 4-star, No. 45 player nationally and No. 8 PF; Lincoln Cosby is a 4-star, No. 47 player nationally and No. 17 SF; Joseph Hartman is a 4-star, No. 97 player nationally and No. 12 SG; Malachi Brown is a 4-star, No. 148 player nationally and No. 46 SF; and Marcus Moller is noted as an international recruit.
One relationship ties the pieces together: May’s departure triggers the portal windows, while Michigan’s recruiting rankings show the program still has momentum—two pressures that can push different players in different directions depending on how quickly the next coach is named.
Michigan basketball Dusty May Dallas Mavericks NCAA transfer portal coaching change NCAA Division I Cabinet transfer rules Cooper Flagg 2026 NBA Draft Aday Mara Yaxel Lendeborg Morez Johnson Jr.
So the portal opens like 5 days after they hire some coach?? That’s wild.
I swear the NCAA makes up rules as they go. If they’re changing coaches, players should just be able to transfer immediately, not deal with some stupid window.
Wait, is this saying Michigan’s players can’t enter the portal until like after Jan 14? Or after Dallas hires him? I’m confused but it sounds like they’re trying to control when people leave.
Dusty May to the Mavericks makes it sound like Michigan is just gonna lose everybody anyway. Like they already had guys draft eligible and then the portal timing thing, so basically the rest of the roster is screwed unless they transfer at the right moment. Also 26-56?? I mean that’s not great, but they got a top-10 pick so I guess it’s a do-over. NCAA transfer portal rules feel like a trap half the time.