New Michigan Coach Mike Boynton Poaches Sitting Head Coach to Join Wolverines Staff

The coach had been at his old school for 14 years.

Mike Martin is reportedly packing his bags and heading west. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

When Dusty May won a national title as Michigan’s coach in 2026, he had an experienced former head coach by his side as an assistant—ex-Oklahoma State boss Mike Boynton.

As he takes over as the Wolverines’ head coach, Boynton will enjoy a similar advantage.

Michigan is hiring Mike Martin as an assistant coach, according to a Monday afternoon report from Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel of ESPN. Martin, 44, has served as Brown’s coach for the past 14 years; he is the Bears’ winningest head coach, and their second-longest-tenured behind Stanley Ward.

Boynton was named the Wolverines’ permanent head coach on July 10, after weeks of uncertainty surrounding May’s departure for the Mavericks on June 23.

Martin did solid work at Brown, which has rarely been an Ivy League power

The Bears haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 1986, when coach Mike Cingiser steered Brown to a No. 15 national seed and first-round loss to Syracuse. Indeed, the Bears’ .394 winning percentage in Ivy League play is the worst in league history. When it comes to men’s basketball, Penn and Princeton—with Philadelphia and New York in their backyards—have ruled the roost.

Martin, though, carved out a commendable niche for Brown in the league’s middle class. He even won a national postseason game in 2019, topping UAB in the CBI. In 2024, the Bears almost made the NCAA tournament as a sub-.500 team, losing by one to Yale in the Ivy tournament final.

A native of Agawam, Mass., in the Springfield area, Martin played for Brown and in Ireland before working as an assistant for his alma mater and the Quakers.

Mike Boynton has done a solid job of holding on to Michigan players and coaches since Dusty May’s departure for the NBA. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Martin joins a largely intact Michigan staff from ‘26, with some exceptions

Boynton and the Wolverines have steadied the ship effectively this summer, but they’ll miss several departures from the 2025–26 staff beyond May himself.

Before May left for Dallas, assistant coach Justin Joyner became Oregon State’s head coach on March 11. Joyner, just 38, had served as a May lieutenant for the duration of the latter’s short Michigan tenure.

Another assistant coach, Drew Williamson, may have joined the Mavericks’ staff; the Wolverines confirmed to James Hawkins of the Detroit News Friday only that he had left the program.

Returning in 2027, for the time being, are Boynton, strength coach Matt Aldred, assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church, director of basketball operations KT Harrell and assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen.

Boynton has one of the toughest acts to follow in the history of men’s college basketball, given the Wolverines’ near-perfection a year ago: a 37–3 record, the Big Ten regular-season title and the school’s first national championship since 1989.

However, May did not blow up Michigan’s staff entirely—if we would’ve, he might’ve taken Boynton, for instance. A strong foundation remains in Ann Arbor, and the Wolverines’ roster seems to have noticed. The amount of people behind the scenes who aren’t going anywhere should be an auspicious sign for Michigan, even as it appears the exposure of past cultural defects in the athletic department are imminent.

Now, enter Martin. Even if his record with the Bears didn’t jump off the page, it seems his experience can only help a retooling program.

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