Michael Boynton Jr. (born January 17, 1982) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. He was previously the head coach at Oklahoma State University from 2017 to 2024.
Playing career
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Boynton led his Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School basketball team to the city semifinals and earned first team All-New York City honors, averaging 15 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists per game.[1]
As a college basketball player for the University of South Carolina from 2000 to 2004, Boynton made 129 three-pointers in 125 career games, finishing in the top ten all-time and fourth in career games played with the Gamecocks. Boynton made the NCAA Tournament while with South Carolina in 2004. He graduated with a degree in African-American Studies.[2]
Coaching career
Boynton’s coaching career began as a graduate manager at Furman University in 2004. He then was an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University from 2005 to 2007, before joining Wofford College as the associate head coach for one season. Boynton returned to his alma mater, South Carolina, in 2008 as an assistant coach and stayed until 2013. He followed assistant coach Brad Underwood when he became the head coach for Stephen F. Austin State University in 2013.[3] When Underwood accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma State in 2016, Boynton again followed him as a member of his staff.
On March 24, 2017, Boynton was named the 20th head coach at Oklahoma State University following Underwood’s departure to Illinois.[4] In 2020, Boynton recruited, signed and coached Cade Cunningham into being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft after his freshman season. In 2022 and 2023, he was named the head coach of the United States national under-19 team.[5] On March 14, 2024, Boynton was fired from Oklahoma State after reaching the NCAA tournament once in seven years.[6]
In April 2024, Boynton was the first assistant coach hired by new head coach Dusty May at the University of Michigan.[7][8] Boynton was given the responsibility of the defensive coordinator for the Michigan Wolverines.[9][10]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big 12 Conference) (2017–2024) | |||||||||
| 2017–18 | Oklahoma State | 21–15 | 8–10 | T–6th | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2018–19 | Oklahoma State | 12–20 | 5–13 | 9th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Oklahoma State | 18–14 | 7–11 | T–7th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Oklahoma State | 21–9 | 11–7 | 5th | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Oklahoma State | 15–15 | 8–10 | 5th | ineligible | ||||
| 2022–23 | Oklahoma State | 20–16 | 8–10 | 7th | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2023–24 | Oklahoma State | 12–20 | 4–14 | T–13th | |||||
| Oklahoma State: | 119–109 (.522) | 51–75 (.405) | |||||||
| Total: | 119–109 (.522) | ||||||||
Personal life
Boynton is married to Jenny Boynton.[11] They have one son and one daughter. Boynton also has three older sisters.[12] Boynton is a Christian.[13]
References
- ^ “Michael Boynton”. gamecocksonline. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ^ “Michael Boynton”. South Carolina Gamecocks. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ^ “Mike Boynton, Jr”. SFA Athletics.
- ^ “Mike Boynton Named Cowboy Basketball Head Coach”. OSU Athletics. March 24, 2017.
- ^ “Mike Boynton Jr”. USA Basketball.
- ^ “Oklahoma State fires Boynton after 7 seasons”. ESPN. March 14, 2024.
- ^ “Michigan basketball hires former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton Jr”. MLive.com. April 12, 2024.
- ^ “Report: Mike Boynton Jr. Expected to join Dusty May’s staff”. The Michigan Daily. April 2, 2024.
- ^ “Mike Boynton biography”. University of Michigan Athletics.
- ^ Andrew Kahn (December 17, 2025). “Meet the Michigan coach leading the best defense in college basketball”. MLive.com.
- ^ Unruh, Jacob (February 24, 2020). “OSU basketball: How Jenny Boynton is boosting the Cowboys as the team’s nutritionist”. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ “Head Coach Mike Boynton”. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ Mercer, Kevin (June 3, 2020). “OSU men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton talks race, faith on new episode of ‘Table Forty’ podcast”. Sports Spectrum. Retrieved June 6, 2020.