Justin Joyner: Michigan's Dusty May 'unbelievable' in the 'modern-day job'

Former Michigan Wolverines assistant coach Justin Joyner is a couple of months into the job as head coach at Oregon State, and is reflecting on the blueprint that Dusty May helped set in the last two seasons.

Joyner, speaking to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports on a Thursday podcast, reflected on both may and former St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, now at Arizona State, on what each man meant to him early in his coaching career.

“Randy gave me such an opportunity in 2017 when he hired me,” Joyner said. “I was coaching middle school AAU basketball at that point. And what I would take from him is just the consistency. The seven years I was with him, he was the same guy every day. He’s consistent with his approach. He does what he does, and he probably does it better than anybody in the country, and I’m so excited for him to take over Arizona State with the resources that they’re afforded and do great things there.

“Dusty’s unbelievable in terms of just the modern-day job and what it entails. From a roster-building standpoint year in and year out, but also from the relationships with the players. Not just the players, but the agents and… the circles of the players, being able to do all those things while also coaching ball at a really high level. We were certainly different at Michigan than we were at St. Mary’s with the pace of play with the positional size and the transition. But very similar in some ways in terms of just the approach of every day being the best you can possibly be.”

Joyner was hired to join May’s staff at Michigan in 2024 after spending much of his life on the West Coast. But he thought that to reach the heights he wanted to get to in the profession, the move to Ann Arbor was going to make the most sense.

 ”I thought I had to do it, honestly,” Joyner said. “At that point in 2024 when I was finishing up at St. Mary’s, I was looking towards some head jobs and some Big West type jobs, and those are great opportunities. But I just felt, going through the process of interviewing, I needed experience. I needed to diversify my experience. And one of the things I wanted to do was make sure I was going onto a staff that was taking over a program. Taking over a program like Michigan, which was 8-24 the year before, was important to me. I wanted to make sure I was working for somebody that I really respected from afar and felt like I could learn a ton from, and that certainly was Dusty May.

“Then the last thing I would say is more institutionally. I wanted to work for a public school; I wanted to be at a high academic type public school and just learn that, that type of system and make sure that I was expanding my knowledge about the educational system. I felt Michigan gave me a great opportunity to do that, and then certainly the success we had and the players we recruited and developed and the staff that I was around was also a huge part.”

Joyner said the thing that stood out the most about May at Michigan was his ability to relate to the players and get in the extra work with them when it was needed.

 ”It starts at the top,” Joyner said. “I’ve never seen a head coach or even heard of a head coach being that much in the trenches with his players on a day-to-day basis. Before practice, you can see him working with [Morez Johnson Jr.], working with [Aday Mara]. After practice, he’s working out with Elliot [Cadeau] and working with [Yaxel Lendeborg]. He’s in the film room in the mornings with his players. He’s in the film room after practice with his players. He’s spending so much time one-on-one with them. He’s really ingrained in the trenches with them, and I think that’s hard to find in head coaches, especially with the caps he has to wear and the responsibilities that he has.

“But that’s the one thing I would say that is really different. Obviously, he’s extremely adaptable. He’s able to change his style of play in terms of who he’s playing with, what type of players he has. I think people looked at us crazy when we were bringing in Yax and told everybody we were going to play him at the three. But Dusty understands basketball at the highest level, and our staff was able to bend our system to its personnel.”

Joyner was juggling the Oregon State job with his Michigan duties down the stretch, which paid off in a national championship run. But he said it was the road that led to that final night as opposed to the celebration that occurred after it that was the most fulfilling.

“The reward is the journey, so to speak,” Joyner said. “The journey of the two years at Michigan, again, taking that program over with Coach May and that staff at 8-24 and building it with really good players, but really good people, and guys that understand the mission. And then re-engaging in year two and being able to finish the job. Really, the journey for me was more important than anything.”