Michigan Basketball Coach Mike Boynton Has Deep West Michigan Roots

Mike Boynton has been named head coach of the University of Michigan basketball team, according to reports from The Holland Sentinel and The New York Times. Boynton assumes the role after serving as an assistant coach for the Wolverines and as the interim coach following the departure of Dusty May to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

Boynton signed a two-year contract on Friday, as reported by The New York Times. He previously spent seven years as the head coach at Oklahoma State University before joining the Michigan staff. His appointment follows a season in which the Wolverines won the National Championship.

Staff Expansion and the Hiring of Mike Martin

Following the re-recruitment of the current roster, Boynton’s first staff addition was the hiring of Mike Martin as an assistant coach to manage the offense, The New York Times reported on Monday. Martin joins Michigan after 13 seasons as the head coach at Brown University.

During his tenure at Brown, Martin recorded a 171-202 record. He nearly led the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024, but the team lost 62-61 to Yale in the Ivy League tournament championship, according to The New York Times. Martin is a Brown graduate and began his coaching career on the staff of Glen Miller at Brown and later at Penn.

Boynton continues to build his staff alongside assistant coach Kyle Church. Both were in Las Vegas for recruiting at the Nike EYBL event during the weekend of August 10, 2026, as reported by The New York Times.

West Michigan Ties and Family Connections

The University of Michigan coach has personal ties to West Michigan through his wife, Jenny Boynton. According to The Holland Sentinel, Jenny Boynton, née Jenny Hill, is a graduate of West Ottawa High School, class of 2000, where she was a standout athlete in both basketball and volleyball.

Jenny Boynton played volleyball at Virginia Tech after her high school career. She and Mike Boynton met through college athletics in 2008 while he was the head assistant coach at the University of South Carolina and she was working as a dietician, The Holland Sentinel reported.

The couple recently visited Grand Rapids to attend the Bank Hoops Underclassman All-State Camp, where their son, Ace, who enters eighth grade this fall, played basketball. Mike Boynton noted that they frequently fly into Grand Rapids to visit Jenny’s parents, Brian and Nancy Hill, according to The Holland Sentinel.

Jenny Boynton maintains close ties with the West Ottawa community. One of her close friends is Kristen Redell, the wife of West Ottawa basketball coach Jared Redell. Redell, a former volleyball teammate of Boynton, said the couple recently visited the West Ottawa gym so their sons could practice, as the children are the same age, according to The Holland Sentinel.

Upcoming Schedule and Exhibition

The Boyntons are scheduled to return to West Michigan in October. The University of Michigan is slated to play an exhibition game against the University of Houston on October 25 at Van Andel Arena, according to The Holland Sentinel.