Mike Boynton Wastes Little Time, Reportedly Hired by Dusty May to Assist at Michigan
STILLWATER – According to multiple reports including one from Matt Norlander of CBS Sports on social media, new University of Michigan head coach Dusty May is close to hiring former head coach at Oklahoma State Mike Boynton as an assistant on his new staff with the Wolverines. May was recently hired to fill the Michigan vacancy after a successful coaching run at Florida Atlantic. Boynton was fired on March 14 after seven years of mostly mediocre or less success at Oklahoma State.
No final details have been announced on the Mike Boynton buyout, which was at over $8 million according to this contract that was negotiated and executed under former Oklahoma State athletics director Mike Holder. It was the second extremely friendly buyout for a former basketball coach. Holder’s contractual goofs have added up to now close to $12 million in buyouts for Oklahoma State.
Pokes Report has learned this buyout with Boynton has been negotiated by Oklahoma State and Boynton to be $2.2 million paid annually over a four-year period. The hope is another term will deduct current earnings by Boynton from the buyout. It would allow May and Michigan to make this assistant hire on the cheap. It is likely the buyout terms would be announced along with the official hiring and contract terms with new Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz. The official press conference is Thursday, April 4 at 3:30 p.m.
Boynton was the head coach of the Cowboys from 2017-2024. He finished with a 119-109 record and was fired after a 12-20 finish this season.
There had been reports at Michigan that May wanted to hire someone with head coaching experience, and Boynton fits that bill as a coach with significant high-major head coaching experience.
Boynton has never coached in the Big Ten but does have strong ties to other coaches in the conference, most notably Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. Boynton served as an assistant under Underwood at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State, replacing him as head coach in Stillwater when an attempted extension between Underwood and then athletic director Mike Holder was bungled. Underwood was immediately hired by Illinois.