When Mike Boynton Jr. took over as Michigan’s next men’s basketball coach, the job started with two urgent tasks: keep the roster together and keep the program’s foundation standing.
So far, he’s checked off most of the board.
Michigan held onto the vast majority of its roster after Dusty May left for the NBA, and Boynton is now down to one remaining assistant-coach opening before his staff is complete. Brown head coach Mike Martin has already come aboard, K.T. Harrell has been elevated into an assistant coaching role, and only one assistant spot remains, along with the director of basketball operations position.
At the moment, Boynton’s staff includes Kyle Church, Akeem Miskdeen, Martin and Harrell. That leaves the Wolverines one hire short of finishing the coaching group.
Boynton said this week on Defend the Block that the process has been about more than simply stacking names. He’s been looking for people who fit together and cover different needs.
“I lean on the things I’ve experienced both positively and negatively in my first opportunity to be a head coach,” Boynton said. “I probably didn’t know as well how to delegate, how to identify my own weaknesses and have people that can cover those for me.”
That kind of balance mattered because one of May’s biggest strengths over his two seasons in Ann Arbor was building a staff that earned real respect around college basketball. Justin Joyner left for the Oregon State head coaching job and Drew Williamson followed May to Dallas, but Michigan managed to keep much of the core intact.
Boynton pointed first to strength and conditioning coach Matt Aldred, who he said played a major role in the team’s physical development.
“First and foremost, our strength and conditioning coach, Matt Aldred,” Boynton said. “He was as responsible as much as anybody for the growth and development of our players from a physical standpoint… Matt Aldred’s elite - I think one of the best in the country by far.
He’s innovative, he’s very thoughtful, he’s thorough, he’s always thinking of ways to challenge these guys. So him being back was a major win, because he’s a highly sought-after person in the market.”
He also singled out Miskdeen, calling him “a high-level basketball thinker, really good talent developer, great recruiter, an all-around good person,” and stressed how important it was to keep Church in place.
“Kyle Church, who’s been an assistant and GM with us, obviously plays a critical role being that he handles responsibilities on both sides, both internally and externally,” Boynton said. “Him sticking around is going to be big for us.”
Michigan also kept director of analytics Jacob Kohn and special assistant Brandon Gilbert, giving Boynton continuity in nearly every part of the operation.
One of the more notable internal moves was Harrell’s promotion from director of basketball operations to assistant coach. Boynton said Harrell’s background and presence make the move a natural one.
“He’s been around the game, was the leading scorer in the SEC,” Boynton said. “It’ll get him a chance to get on the court with our guys, being able to teach and coach them and challenge them. He’s still younger, so he can get out there with them, and he can still hoop.”
Harrell had already become an important part of the program after working at Auburn, then following May to Florida Atlantic and eventually Ann Arbor. In addition to his operations work, he was heavily involved in scouting opponents, so the shift onto the court fits what he has already been doing behind the scenes.
The only outside addition so far is Martin, who spent 14 seasons as Brown’s head coach and became the winningest coach in that program’s history.
With one assistant slot and the basketball operations job still open, Boynton has mostly done what he set out to do: avoid a teardown and keep Michigan’s transition as smooth as possible. The Wolverines have kept their roster, kept most of the staff and stayed steady through the coaching change.
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