Michigan Hires Mike Boynton Jr. to Replace Dusty May

Since winning the national championship last season, the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team has undergone significant change.

Not only did Michigan lose three extremely important players to the NBA Draft, with Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara all being selected inside the top 12, but the Wolverines also lost head coach Dusty May to the Dallas Mavericks as he moved up to the NBA ranks.

And despite Michigan still having a phenomenal recruiting class coming in, that’s a huge void. The Wolverines didn’t just lose their star coach. They also lost three of their best players from a championship roster.

Over the weekend, May’s replacement was officially announced, as Mike Boynton Jr. agreed to a two-year deal to lead the premier program.

And it’s an opportunity for Boynton to reset his career at one of college basketball’s biggest brands. After spending seven seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma State, Boynton had his contract bought out before eventually becoming an assistant at Michigan.

So he’s already familiar with the system. He’s been part of the program’s recent success, helped lead its recruiting efforts and played a major role in building the nation’s top defense during the championship season.

While Boynton will certainly integrate some of his own flavor moving forward, that level of continuity is important for a team that already lost so much.

Michigan was also able to retain key pieces, including starting point guard and Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau, while keeping much of its incoming class together.

Boynton has a tall task ahead of him with a new-look roster, but he’s better suited than almost anybody because of his familiarity with the Wolverines, the returning players and the recruits coming in.

Now, the job falls on his shoulders to keep Michigan competitive and give the Wolverines a real chance to go back-to-back as national champions.