Who is Mike Boynton? Michigan Names Interim Coach After Dusty May Departure

For the second time in three seasons, Michigan is turning over a new leaf.

On Monday, the Mavericks surprised the basketball world by hiring coach Dusty May away from the Wolverines just under three months after he led Michigan to the national championship. The move opened up a desirable Big Ten job, and the Wolverines have moved quickly to fill it—sort of.

Mike Boynton will serve as Michigan’s interim coach in the wake of May’s departure, Wolverines athletic director Warde Manuel announced in a statement Tuesday. Left unresolved: whether Boynton will serve as Michigan’s interim coach either a) while the Wolverines look for a new coach, or b) through the duration of the 2027 season or longer.

“Mike has been an invaluable member of our staff and a respected leader throughout his career,” Manuel said in his statement. “His experience, character and commitment to our values make him the right person to guide the team during this transition.”

Here’s a brief overview of what Michigan is getting in the 44-year-old Boynton.

A solid guard and a well-traveled assistant

Boynton is from Brooklyn and played his high school ball in the Fort Greene neighborhood, eventually making his way south to suit up collegiately for South Carolina. There, he averaged 4.3 points per game in 125 games over four years, peaking with an All-Tournament performance in the SEC tournament in 2004.

Quickly transitioning to coaching, Boynton put in work at Furman, Coastal Carolina and Wofford before returning to become a Gamecocks assistant under coach Darrin Horn. Several years into Horn’s tenure, South Carolina hired an associate head coach named Brad Underwood—who took Boynton to Stephen F. Austin and then to Oklahoma State.

Dealt a bad hand at Oklahoma State—with one notable exception

Oklahoma State Cowboys coach Mike Boynton gestures to his team during a play against the Oklahoma Sooners. — Mike Boynton had an up-and-down tenure as Oklahoma State coach. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The defining event of Boynton’s head coaching with the Cowboys took place before the start of his first season, when the FBI announced a wide-ranging investigation into corruption in college basketball—and set a trap that would ensnare Oklahoma State years later.

Boynton’s first season was a mild success, as his 21–15 team won two games in the NIT before losing in the quarterfinals. Amid two up-and-down years, he won a major recruiting coup in November 2019 when guard Cade Cunningham committed to play for the Cowboys. When the NCAA handed Oklahoma State a postseason ban for 2021 as part of the corruption scandal, Cunningham remained committed to the Cowboys—a decision that paid dividends as the appeal process meant Oklahoma State served its punishment in 2022.

Pat Forde: Mike Boynton Deserves Chance to Lead Michigan After Misfortune Marred Oklahoma State Tenure

In Cunningham’s season with the Cowboys—the pandemic-truncated ’21 campaign—Boynton showed just how good of a coach he could be. Avoiding the distractions that usually come with carrying a presumptive one-and-done prospect, Oklahoma State went 21–9 and finished the regular season ranked No. 11 in the country. A No. 4 seed, the Cowboys won their first NCAA tournament game since 2009 over Liberty before losing to Oregon State in the second round.

Boynton lasted three more years before being fired—one in which his team served the ban and two in which he missed the NCAA tournament. Now, he may get a chance to show what he can really do, without distortion fields positive (Cunningham) and negative (NCAA sanctions).

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