Michigan basketball has quietly made a major move to finalize its coaching staff, and it's one that brings a wealth of international experience to Ann Arbor. While the program has yet to make an official announcement, 40-year-old Mody Maor is now listed as an assistant coach in the athletic department's staff directory. Maor steps in to fill the vacancy left by Justin Joyner, who departed earlier this spring after two seasons under head coach Dusty May to take the head coaching job at Oregon State.
Maor's journey is as global as it gets. Born in Los Angeles, he moved to Israel at age eight and launched his coaching career there in 2012. His resume includes assistant stints with Hapoel Holon and Maccabi Ashdod—where he won a championship in 2017—before taking the reins as head coach of Hapoel Jerusalem. He then crossed hemispheres to lead the New Zealand Breakers in the Australia Basketball League (ABL), guiding them to the grand final series in 2023. Most recently, he served as head coach of the Nagasaki Velca in Japan's B League.
Maor's philosophy is rooted in unity and purpose. "The first thing you look at is who you're building your team with," he told ESPN in 2022, reflecting on his transformative work with the Breakers. "We wanted to bring people that want to be part of something. The first step is getting everyone connected to the same goal, to having one common goal. Once you have those goals, it's everybody understanding why you do things and how that connects to the goal." That mindset helped the Breakers become a powerhouse, and it's exactly the kind of energy May values.
May, who has led Michigan to a national championship and a stellar 64-13 record over two seasons, has never shied away from international talent. The Wolverines roster already features players from Spain (Aday Mara), New Zealand (Oscar Goodman), Russia (Vlad Goldin), Germany (Malick Kordel), and Denmark (Marcus Moller). Adding Maor to the bench only deepens that global connection, bringing a coach who understands the nuances of the game across cultures and continents.
For Michigan fans, this hire signals a commitment to building a program that thrives on diverse perspectives—both on the court and in the huddle. Maor's experience as a head coach overseas and his proven ability to connect players to a shared mission could be exactly what the Wolverines need to keep their championship momentum rolling.