Mike Martin’s jump to Michigan basketball brings a fresh voice into a staff that already knows exactly who it is.
After 14 seasons as Brown’s head coach and a previous run as an assistant at Penn from 2006-12, Martin is now part of Mike Boynton Jr.’s staff in Ann Arbor. He also knows the college game from the player’s side, having suited up for Brown from 2000-04 and spent most of his basketball life there before moving into coaching.
On the Defend the Block podcast with Brian Boesch, Martin explained why this move was the one that finally made sense. He said he had already had conversations with people he trusts about making a similar leap, and this opportunity hit every note he was looking for.
“Prior to this, I’d had some conversations with some people that I respect and some mentors about, potentially making a move like this. This one just checks every box,” Martin said.
“… I was really happy at Brown and wasn’t looking to leave. But this is the kind of opportunity that you have to listen to, you have to pay attention to, and it just made so much sense for my family and for me.”
The change is a big one. Martin is moving from the Ivy League to a Big Ten program that just won a national championship, which means the standard, the pressure and the resources all look different. Even so, he sees the move as a chance to learn and to compete at the highest level.
“I haven’t been at this level, and there’s so much for me to learn,” Martin said. “Obviously, as a competitor, you want to try to compete at the highest level.
And there’s no higher level than Michigan basketball, in the Big Ten and all that we are able to participate in here. So again, I’ve probably had a few conversations over the past few years about this kind of move, but none of them made as much sense as this one.”
For now, Martin’s work is about getting fluent in the day-to-day language of the program. He pointed to terminology, teaching styles and the way Michigan wants to play as the first things he needs to lock in.
“I think the biggest thing from being the coach at Michigan is learning all of our terminology and how we teach and how we coach,” Martin said. “I’ve got a really good feel to this point, like some of the ways we want to play stylistically. And how do I try to continue to learn in those ways, how do I continue to build great relationships with these guys?”
That adjustment is made a little easier by the fact that Michigan kept so much of its staff together. Justin Joyner left for the Oregon State head coaching job before Dusty May even departed, but Boynton was promoted and retained Kyle Church, Drew Williamson and Akeem Miskdeen through the transition.
Martin said that continuity matters as he settles in and figures out where he fits.
“The fact that there’s staff continuity from a national championship team is huge for me as I try to kind of integrate with what we’re doing, as I try to learn,” Martin said. “Those guys have been amazing just being able to have conversations and pick their brain about things that we see in practice or things that we see on film so that I can be better at teaching and coaching the guys we have.”
Now it’s about the move to Ann Arbor, the new surroundings and the new rhythm. Martin arrives with a long Ivy League background and his own point of view, and Michigan will get that perspective as it prepares for the upcoming season under Boynton.
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