RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesJoining head coach Mike Boynton Jr.’s staff, new Michigan men’s basketball assistant coach Mike Martin spent the last 14 seasons as Brown’s head coach after serving as an assistant at Penn from 2006-12. Martin played for Brown from 2000-04 prior to his coaching career, spending most of his basketball career there.
Martin sat down to speak with Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block podcast to talk about his coaching philosophies and the move to Ann Arbor. Off the bat, it might come as a surprise for a long-tenured Ivy League coach to up and leave after spending his entire career there. But for Martin, it was an opportunity he could not pass up.
“Prior to this, I’d had some conversations with some people that I respect and some mentors about, potentially making a move like this. This one just checks every box,” Martin said. “… I was really happy at Brown and wasn’t looking to leave. But this is the kind of opportunity that you have to listen to, you have to pay attention to, and it just made so much sense for my family and for me.”
Going from exclusively having Ivy League experience to a program in the Big Ten and coming off a national championship, the expectations are higher and the resources are plentiful. Despite the clear differences, there’s a benefit to bringing in a perspective like Martin’s to a staff that’s kept the majority of its coaching staff.
“I haven’t been at this level, and there’s so much for me to learn,” Martin said. “Obviously, as a competitor, you want to try to compete at the highest level. And there’s no higher level than Michigan basketball, in the Big Ten and all that we are able to participate in here. So again, I’ve probably had a few conversations over the past few years about this kind of move, but none of them made as much sense as this one.”
The running list of things to work through is large for Martin this offseason, but he’s nailed down a few to focus on right away, with many consisting of him making sure he truly understands and buys into the culture.
“I think the biggest thing from being the coach at Michigan is learning all of our terminology and how we teach and how we coach,” Martin said. “I’ve got a really good feel to this point, like some of the ways we want to play stylistically. And how do I try to continue to learn in those ways, how do I continue to build great relationships with these guys?”
What makes Martin’s move to Michigan that much more interesting is just how much Michigan was able to retain its coaching staff. Although former assistant coach Justin Joyner took the Oregon State head coach position — with that happening before Dusty May even departed — Boynton was elevated to head coach and was able to keep Kyle Church, Drew Williamson and Akeem Miskdeen all around through the transition.
So another major step for Martin is finding his niche within a group of coaches that already has a lot of experience working together.
“The fact that there’s staff continuity from a national championship team is huge for me as I try to kind of integrate with what we’re doing, as I try to learn,” Martin said. “Those guys have been amazing just being able to have conversations and pick their brain about things that we see in practice or things that we see on film so that I can be better at teaching and coaching the guys we have.”
It’s a matter of Martin moving his life to Ann Arbor and adjusting to the new culture. Serving as a longtime Ivy League player and coach, he will bring his own flair and perspective to the reigning national champions under Boynton this upcoming season.
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