Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May lost one of his prized assistants this offseason, as Justin Joyner left the coaching staff to take the job at Oregon State.
Joyner was a great recruiter and a great Xs and Os coach, too. He will be missed, but when you have the success Michigan basketball has had the past two seasons, coaches are going to leave for other opportunities. It's what you want to happen.
There wasn't much information about who would be replacing Joyner. However, the replacement came to light on Sunday as Mody Maor is being hired by Dusty May to join the Michigan basketball staff, according to Alejandro Zuniga of The Michigan Insider.
"Maor, 40, most recently coached the Nagasaki Velca of the Japanese B.League. He was previously the head coach of the New Zealand Breakers," Zuniga writes. "Maor is an Israeli-American who began coaching basketball in 2012. After several years coaching in Israel, including a league title in 2017, he landed an assistant job with the New Zealand Breakers in 2019, and was elevated to head coach there in 2022."
Michigan lands "one of the most sought after coaches in the world"
Zuniga also quoted Breakers executive Lisa Edser, who called Mody "one of the most highly sought coaches in the world."
"Mody's international reputation is at an all-time high after what he has done at the Breakers," she said.
Now, Maor will join the Michigan staff. It could open some doors for international recruiting, something May has shown an interest in during his time with the Wolverines. Beyond that, it seems like another innovative basketball mind.
That's the great thing about Dusty, or part of what makes him so great. His intellectual curiosity about the game knows no bounds. His lack of ego is also impressive, and this move is another example of May stepping out of his comfort zone to make Michigan better.
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