Michigan basketball has quietly added an internationally seasoned coach to its staff, filling the vacancy left by Justin Joyner's departure.
While the program hasn't made an official announcement yet, Mody Maor is now listed as an assistant basketball coach in the athletic department's staff directory. The 40-year-old brings a wealth of global experience, having served as head coach for the Nagasaki Velca in Japan's B League and the New Zealand Breakers of the Australia Basketball League (ABL).
Maor steps in to replace Joyner, who spent two seasons in Ann Arbor under head coach Dusty May before leaving this spring to become the head coach at Oregon State. It's a significant hire for a Wolverines program that's been on an absolute tear—May just led Michigan to a national championship and boasts an impressive 64-13 record over two years.
Born in Los Angeles, Maor moved to Israel at age eight and began his coaching career there in 2012. He worked as an assistant with Hapoel Holon (2012-14) and Maccabi Ashdod (2016-17)—winning a title in 2017—before taking the helm at Hapoel Jerusalem (2017-18). His journey then took him to New Zealand, where he made a significant impact.
"The first thing you look at is who you're building your team with," Maor told ESPN in 2022 during a feature on how he "transformed" the New Zealand Breakers. "We wanted to bring people that want to be part of something. The first step is getting everyone connected to the same goal... Once you have those goals, it's everybody understanding why you do things and how that connects to the goal. I think we've done that really well and the guys have bought into those ideas and those concepts."
Under his leadership, the Breakers advanced to the ABL grand final series in 2023 before falling in five games.
May has never shied away from looking overseas to strengthen his roster, and this hire follows that same blueprint. He's already landed international talents like Aday Mara (Spain), Oscar Goodman (New Zealand), Vlad Goldin (Russia), Malick Kordel (Germany), and Marcus Moller (Denmark). Now, he's adding international flair to the coaching staff as well.
For Michigan basketball, this move signals a continued commitment to building a diverse, globally-minded program—both on the court and on the sidelines.