Just two hours after Dusty May ruptured the reigning national champions’ offseason momentum in announcing his departure for the NBA, the Michigan men’s basketball team has taken its first step towards mitigation.
First reported by ESPN Monday afternoon, former Wolverines assistant coach Mike Boynton has been promoted to interim head coach. Per CBS, it also remains possible Boynton will be named full-time head coach in the following days or weeks.
Unlike May’s departure this morning — which comes shortly after weeks-long rumors of his potential exit had quelled — the temporary Boynton hire was easily anticipated, considering his standing within the program and May’s late departure leaving external options limited. And if Boynton were to sign on as next season’s full-time head coach, that wouldn’t be all that shocking either, for two main reasons.
The first comes from a roster retention standpoint. Boynton has been with Michigan since May got there. Granted, that’s only two seasons, but the most recent one ended in the program’s first national championship in over 30 years, with a roster that was almost completely constructed in one offseason, an effort Boynton assisted in. Quite a few key names from that championship-winning squad are set to return next year, namely in the backcourt, but these players will have a 15-day period to transfer out once Boynton or another is hired as full-time head coach.
It’s more likely these athletes will choose staying home over exploring other options if the man they’re going to battle for is someone who’s proven he can help them win on college basketball’s big stages. Boynton’s done that on the biggest stage of all. With the returners already having solid trust in their new leader, that keeps any dominoes from falling onto the several high–profile transfers May, Boynton and the rest of the Wolverines’ staff has brought in since April. If the established guys trust him, it’s likely for the newcomers to follow suit. With Boynton at the helm comes the most consistency Michigan can get at this point, and consistency is something worthy of note for a program that cut down the nylon in Indianapolis a mere two months ago.
The second reason Boynton as head coach might make sense from a managerial standpoint is that he’s been here before. Boynton served as the head coach at Oklahoma State— a fellow Power Six program — from 2017 to 2024, during which time he accumulated an 119-109 record. He was relieved of his coaching duties after a 2023-24 season ending with a 12-20 overall record and 4-14 conference record, and was hired by May a month later.
Perhaps the most notable thing Boynton did with the Cowboys was recruit and develop Cade Cunningham, the future 2021 NBA Draft’s first-overall pick to the Detroit Pistons. Cunningham spent one season with Oklahoma State, and it was the only year the Cowboys reached the postseason during Boynton’s tenure. With guards Trey McKenney, Elliot Cadeau and L.J Cason all planning on reprising their roles as Wolverines next season, Boynton would have plenty of room to utilize what he learned from coaching a phenom like Cunningham on Michigan’s slew of backcourt talent.
Boynton’s had a lackluster experience as head coach at the competitive collegiate level thus far, but it’s experience nonetheless. Coupled with his ample success as an assistant and the talented roster currently residing in Ann Arbor, there exists a path for Boynton to prove what he once couldn’t: that he belongs at the helm of one of college basketball’s premier programs.
