DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks weren't worried about the timing of hiring a coach as it related to the NBA draft.
Since the club lured Dusty May away from national champion Michigan in the nick of time, president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri figures they added another resource for the draft room.
“He’ll be involved because he’s a college coach,” Ujiri said in a meeting with reporters about half an hour before the start of the draft Tuesday night, when Dallas had the ninth pick along with the final choice of the first round at No. 30. “He has interaction with his players. We want to know as much information as we can on these players.”
The Mavericks officially announced May as their new coach a few hours before the start of the draft. They also have the 48th overall pick in the second round Wednesday night.
May is making the jump to the NBA less than three months after leading Michigan to its first NCAA championship since 1989. He had a 64-13 record in two years with the Wolverines, including a 34-3 season that ended with a 69-63 victory over UConn in the national title game.
The Mavericks made their choice to replace Jason Kidd official on the same day they could select the next young player who would be part of building around 2025 No. 1 pick and reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, who turns 20 in December.
“It’s a different ballgame with NIL in college. It’s like a professional league,” said Ujiri, who let Kidd go about two weeks after getting hired by the Mavericks in May. “Many things I think translate in some kind of way. I look at the style of play, big players, how he sees the game. And then I look at the person. Incredible person.”
The 49-year-old May's title with Michigan came three years after he led Florida Atlantic to its only Final Four appearance. The Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournament in his first season after he inherited a team that went 8-24 under Juwan Howard. It was the school’s lowest win total since going 7-20 in 1981-82.
“While we are disappointed to see Dusty leave Michigan, we are deeply grateful to the May family for the lasting impact they have made on our program and our university,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement announcing Mike Boynton as May's interim replacement.
May’s record in his last four college seasons was 124-26, an .827 winning percentage that was third best in all of major college men’s basketball over that span behind Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (.861) and Duke’s Jon Scheyer (.832). His overall college record is 190-82.
“This is one of the most respected franchises in professional sports, with passionate fans, a talented roster, and a clear commitment to building a championship organization,” May said in the news release announcing his hiring.
May spent 21 years in the college ranks after the Indiana native first served as a student manager for the Hoosiers and coach Bob Knight while he was in school there from 1996-2000. Florida, UAB and Murray State were among his stops as an assistant before debuting as a head coach with Florida Atlantic in 2018-19.
“He's somebody who came up in a really tough way, video coordinator, assistant coach, and how he's developed himself,” Ujiri said. “He's worked everywhere. He's coach small teams, big teams.”
Moving on from Kidd was the last part of putting the ill-fated Luka Doncic trade behind the Dallas franchise for good.
Nico Harrison, the engineer of the trade that brought the oft-injured Anthony Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers, was fired as general manager in November after the team started slowly in 2025-26. The Mavericks missed the playoffs for the second year in a row since reaching the NBA Finals and losing to Boston.
Doncic and Kyrie Irving were the key players in that deep playoff run in 2024, two years after Doncic also reached the Western Conference finals with a mostly different supporting cast.
Irving remains on the roster amid lingering questions about his future after missing all of last season. Irving tore the ACL in his left knee in March of last year, a month after the Doncic trade.
Ujiri, who is also the team's alternate governor, hired Mike Schmitz as GM soon after his arrival. Schmitz, a former draft analyst for ESPN, had been the assistant GM in Portland. Now Ujiri and Schmitz have teamed up on the coaching change.
“Dusty represents the type of leader we want guiding this franchise,” Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said. “He has demonstrated throughout his career that success is built through preparation, character, accountability and an unwavering commitment to excellence.”
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FILE - Michigan head coach Dusty May talks with the media following their a win over Michigan State after an NCAA college basketball game in Ann Arbor, Mich., March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel, file)
The latest round of primary elections took place Tuesday in four states: Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Utah.
The midterm elections in November will determine control of both chambers of Congress and will also see the election of dozens of governors and other state and local offices. Before then, voters must choose nominees for each of these offices, making their picks in primary elections throughout the spring and summer in all 50 states.
Maryland: All eight of the state’s congressional districts will hold contested primaries. In a state that typically leans left (only one district is led by a Republican), the primaries often determine the general election winners. Gov. Wes Moore secured the Democratic nomination for a second term.
New York: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is looking to shape the city’s congressional delegation through a series of endorsements, including in districts 10, 13 and 7. Meanwhile, several Democrats are seeking the party nomination in District 12, including Trump critic George Conway and Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg.
South Carolina: State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the Republican nomination for governor after President Donald Trump, who initially endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette for the job, said on Friday that either contender would be a good pick.
Utah: Voters will nominate congressional candidates using a new map that created a Democratic-friendly district in Salt Lake City.
Here's the latest:
In South Carolina, Wilson had double-digit leads in 21 of the 23 counties that had released vote results from across the state by the time AP called the GOP runoff for governor.
He significantly expanded the leads he had in the primary in the heavily populated Charleston and Columbia areas and also led in counties that went for Evette and Ralph Norman on June 9. Evette was ahead in only two counties.
Emily Cort describes herself as a progressive who backs Democrat Nate Blouin, a firebrand in the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature. Cort said Blouin’s beliefs align closely with hers, including opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza and concern for environmental issues.
But she worries that Blouin could end up splitting the vote with other progressive-leaning candidates in the race, to the advantage of Democrat Ben McAdams, who is considered more moderate and who Cort doesn’t like.
“Not only do we have to be voting for people that we believe in, but it’s politics and we have to be voting for people that we think will make it the furthest,” she said.
“I’m a little nervous that there is a split at the moment,” she added.
A video played of Wilson supporters, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, as the gubernatorial candidate greeted family and backers on stage with the strains of Van Halen as accompaniment.
“I will never lie to you and I will always make fighting for your family my No. 1 consideration,” Wilson’s voice said in the video background.
After Wilson walked on stage, he shouted to the crowd, “Are we having fun tonight?”
Until last week, Trump had endorsed only Wilson’s opponent Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. He added Wilson to his endorsements the Friday before the runoff.
Evette had finished narrowly ahead of Wilson in the June primary.
Moore, 47, promoted a record of job growth and declining violent crime in the deep-blue state, and he campaigned on standing up for Maryland’s middle class while criticizing Trump for healthcare cuts and price hikes.
An author and former Army officer, Moore’s first foray into politics was getting elected as Maryland’s first Black governor four years ago. He is often mentioned among Democrats as a potential presidential candidate, even as he has repeatedly said he will not run in 2028.
Moore easily beat physician Eric Felber, his sole Democratic challenger in the primary.
Joaquin Ezra, 20, says he used to be pro-choice but now considers himself “in the middle” on abortion. He cited that as one of the reasons he voted for former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, who is considered more moderate than his Democratic primary opponents in Utah’s 1st Congressional District.
McAdams previously described himself as anti-abortion and pitched himself as a moderate during his 2018 campaign. This year, running in a more solidly Democratic district, he’s pledged his support for abortion rights.
Ezra said the district is not as progressive as some Democratic Party activists have claimed and includes lots of people who voted for Trump. He suggested that would make McAdams a better fit.
“Out of the three frontrunners, definitely yes,” Ezra said. “There are probably maybe some better candidates that could have ran, but he’s not the worst. I think he’s actually pretty decent.”
In-person election day voting concluded in Maryland at 8 p.m. EDT. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.
In the 2022 primary, The Associated Press first reported results at 8:42 p.m. EDT, or 42 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 4:15 a.m. EDT with about 56% of total votes counted.
As news spread of Wilson’s win, scattered whoops went up around the downtown Columbia ballroom, where supporters had only begun to fill in for his election night party.
Most people were still in a reception area outside the room, ordering drinks from a bar setup and sampling food along a buffet line.
Wilson on Tuesday defeated the Republican whom the president had initially picked in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary.
Most Republicans in the race had vied for backing from Trump, who endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in the closing days of the primary race two weeks ago. But days before the runoff, Trump said he was endorsing both Republicans, throwing a curveball into the race for any voter looking to the president for guidance.
Evette also had support from outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster, alongside whom she’s served for eight years. She and Wilson had advanced over other GOP candidates including U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — both of whom endorsed Wilson.
Wilson has served as the state’s top prosecutor since 2011 and is the son of longtime U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson. His victory sets up a November general contest with state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who won Democrats’ nomination outright two weeks ago.
Republican South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette chose a room with a sweeping vista of the ocean at Myrtle Beach for her election night party.
There were plenty of campaign signs available, but none of them had the “endorsed by Donald Trump” in the corner that showed up late in the primary where she finished a close first two weeks ago.
What was one of Evette’s biggest selling points evaporated Friday when the president decided to also endorse her runoff opponent, state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
A few dozen people munched on hors d’oeuvres and enjoyed the open bar as polls closed at 7 p.m.
In-person election day voting concluded in South Carolina at 7 p.m. EDT. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.
In the June 9 primary, The Associated Press first reported results at 7:20 p.m. EDT, or 20 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 12:19 a.m. EDT with about 99.9% of total votes counted.
Alan Wilson has served in the South Carolina Army National Guard for 30 years, including a deployment to Iraq. That service, coupled with his 15 years as attorney general, made him John Potter’s pick in the GOP runoff.
“It seems like he’s been doing a good job, as far as I know,” Potter said Tuesday after casting his ballot in Elgin.
As for his other possible choice, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Potter said she had campaigned as wanting to be a change agent, despite having served in the state’s No. 2 job for nearly eight years.
“They could have made some changes — fixed the roads, lowered taxes — and why haven’t they done it previously?” he asked about Evette.
Jenna Staub, a 31-year-old Brooklyn resident, only learned that Claire Valdez was running for Congress after bumping into the state assemblymember on the campaign trail with Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week.
“I was a little bit celebrity star-struck,” Staub said of Mamdani. “But I didn’t want to make an impulsive decision.”
After researching the other candidates, Staub said Valdez’s anti-corporate views aligned closest with her own, earning her vote on Tuesday.
Anton Ljunggren, 46, was similarly swayed by Valdez’s endorsement from Mamdani, along with her support from Sen. Bernie Sanders. “I know I should do the research, but I trust them,” said Ljunggren, who works in sustainability. “What do I know that they don’t?”
Meanwhile, Brian Cleary, a self-described liberal Democrat, said Mamdani’s backing of Valdez was a “big push” behind his decision to vote for her opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
“I’m not just going to follow the current winds,” said Cleary, 56. “I feel like I’m still adjusting to all of these progressive policies.”
Jason Mangen, a lifelong Republican, said he was supporting Dan Cox in what would be a rematch against incumbent Gov. Wes Moore.
“Maryland’s got a big budget problem,” he said. “You look at the economy and hopefully get a governor who can guide the legislature and get a good budget. I think Dan Cox is good on the budget.”
Mangen, 60, said being a Republican in the heavily Democratic state often means coming up short.
“I live in Maryland, so I know what that means. That’s the nature of living here,” he said. “But I choose to live in Maryland.”
U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat faces a primary challenge from community organizer and graduate student Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist endorsed by the city’s popular mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
The race has become a contest over age, experience and how to best confront the Trump administration in Washington.
Avila Chevalier was a college protestor at her alma mater, Columbia University, which is in the district. She says her candidacy is about electing new leadership to Washington and has called for greater economic support for the district’s working class residents.
Espaillat is the first formerly undocumented person elected to Congress, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and an outspoken critic of the White House’s immigration enforcement tactics. He has warned that Avila Chevalier is a candidate of transplants to the district’s historic neighborhoods like Harlem.
Pam Helton, who also said she supported Wilson in South Carolina’s gubernatorial primary two weeks ago, said it was the longtime attorney general’s approach to “law and order” that made him her choice in Tuesday’s runoff.
Wilson’s campaign platform includes criminal justice reforms like ending cashless bail and creating stricter mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse material.
After voting at a precinct in Elgin, Helton said she didn’t really know much about Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who has been elected twice on a ticket with Gov. Henry McMaster but never run atop her own campaign before this year’s elections.
“The other lady, I haven’t really seen anything about her,” Helton said. “I don’t know what she has done. I just like Alan Wilson.”
Norma James, 64, said she was initially excited to vote for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the state’s first Black governor, but public sentiment and research have changed that.
“The taxes have gone up,” and other questions about his honesty have come up, she said. “Public sentiment that I’ve found is he hasn’t fulfilled his promises. I did end up voting for Eric Felber.”
James said she was glad to see the 5th District seat open for the first time in decades, but she had questions about the candidate with the highest profile, Adrian Boafo. She went with Rushern L. Baker III, a two-term county executive.
James said she braved the weather because of those races and the sacrifices that people made for voting rights that are under attack. “I read that only one in four residents in Prince George’s vote. That’s appalling.”
Rep. Steny Hoyer is a congressman. But he’s also a Democratic institution.
The lawmaker has served in Maryland’s 5th District for 45 years, including two decades spent as the party’s No. 2 in the chamber.
Now that he’s retiring, voters will have a chance to reflect on his leadership — and decide what they want for the future.
The candidate field offers a wide range of options, from one of his former staffers to a progressive attorney and a former Capitol police officer. The winner could offer a clue into what the state’s Democrats want the next generation of their party to look like.
That’s what Elgin voter John Potter said about casting his ballot for 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo in the GOP runoff for South Carolina’s top prosecutor job.
Voter Lynn Strickland said she picked Stumbo, too: “I don’t know much about him, but I like him.”
Pam Helton said she sided with Stumbo’s opponent, state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, but noted, “I really don’t even know him.”
The attorney general’s race is one of three statewide GOP runoffs up for grabs Tuesday. Current Attorney General Alan Wilson is in a Republican runoff for governor.
New York is racially and ethnically diverse with higher educational attainment than the U.S. as a whole. Black, Hispanic and Asian people make up a higher percentage of the voting age population than the country overall.
The Empire State leans left, voting for Kamala Harris in 2024 by an almost 13-point margin, but U.S. House primary contests in the state often indicate the direction of each party.
In New York City, all eyes are on several Democratic congressional primaries, many of which pit incumbents and establishment candidates against the party's progressive wing.
While there are a few contested Republican primaries in the state, the 21st Congressional District is one to watch. State Assemblyman Robert Smullen, popular among local party officials, is running against Trump-backed business owner Anthony Constantino.
Repeating his baseless claim that the California primary was rigged, Trump on Tuesday suggested that it was his call that got Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton a spot on the November ballot.
“Had I not made that call, Steve Hilton would right now be looking and watching the election from home,” Trump said at an event in Pennsylvania.
Trump said he made the call as California’s votes were being counted and it appeared Hilton might fall short. He said the U.S. attorney then made a call to “check” on the votes. About an hour later, Hilton was declared a winner, Trump said.
It took nearly a week to determine the general election matchup for governor due to California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process. Hilton edged out Democrat Tom Steyer.
Trump had previously suggested without evidence that his pressure helped swing the race for Hilton, but he had not mentioned the call.
When Mayor Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination a year ago, New York Attorney General Letitia James was among the first to speak at his victory party.
But on Tuesday, James stood outside a poll site in Brooklyn with another candidate, Antonio Reynoso, urging voters not to cast their ballot for Mamdani’s preferred pick in New York’s 7th Congressional District, Claire Valdez.
Reynoso, a longtime city official currently serving as Brooklyn’s borough president, maintains support from a broad coalition of progressive groups, which have at times sparred with Valdez’s most vocal backers — the Democratic Socialists of America.
Rob Solano, a Reynoso supporter and self-described friend of DSA, said he was looking forward to the end of a race he called “unexpectedly tense.”
“We’re friends, and we’ll still be friends after this,” added Solano, who is the executive director of Churches United for Fair Housing Action. “But it’s like when one of your friends is hooking up with someone you don’t like. What can you do?”
Michelle Green, 59, said she voted for Quincy Bareebe in the Democratic primary to replace Hoyer.
“I just love what she is doing in the community,” she said of the home healthcare professional.
A registered nurse, Green said Hoyer’s endorsement of Boafo did not hold sway.
“I just figured that they were all in the same bed together,” she said.
Green said she had only seen Boafo’s ads, while she had seen Bareebe in the community.
“I trust her,” she said.
The state senator is vying to represent a new, Democratic-leaning U.S. House district in the Salt Lake City area.
Blouin, a progressive firebrand in the GOP-controlled Legislature, faces two other progressives and former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, who is viewed as a moderate, in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District.
He apologized in April for several posts he had made on internet forums between 2009 and 2015 that denigrated women and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Utah-based faith known widely as the Mormon church.
Before the posts surfaced, Blouin was viewed as a top contender to challenge McAdams for the seat. Some of the party’s progressive wing has since shifted its support to political newcomer Liban Mohamed, a former Meta and TikTok employee.
A fractured vote among progressives could help McAdams emerge as the winner and move on to the November general election.
A sign hangs at a voting center during Utah's primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Alex Goodlett)
FILE - A voter completes their ballot at a voting site, in New York, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Voting signs are displayed outside a polling station on Election Day during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
