Big news out of Ann Arbor: Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May has found his replacement for assistant coach Justin Joyner, who recently left to take the head coaching job at Oregon State. According to reports from 247Sports' Alejandro Zúñiga, the Wolverines are bringing in international coaching standout Mody Maor to fill the role.
Maor, 40, arrives with an impressive global resume. He most recently served as head coach of the Nagasaki Velca in Japan's B.League, where his team posted a dominant 47-13 record this past season—the best mark in the Western Conference. Before that, he was at the helm of the New Zealand Breakers, where he compiled a solid 31-25 regular-season record over two years.
An Israeli-American, Maor began his professional coaching journey in 2012. He cut his teeth in Israel's competitive basketball scene, winning a league title as an assistant coach with Maccabi Ashdod in 2017. That success led him to an assistant role with the New Zealand Breakers in 2019, and he was promoted to head coach in 2022.
"Mody's international reputation is at an all-time high after what he has done at the Breakers, and he is now one of the most highly sought coaches in the world," Breakers executive Lisa Edser said at the time of his departure.
Maor chose to leave his post with Nagasaki at the end of the season to "pursue other opportunities," and now he's set to bring his wealth of international experience to the Big Ten. His philosophy? It's all about building a unified team.
"The first thing you look at is who you're building your team with. 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," Maor told ESPN in 2022, reflecting on how he transformed the New Zealand Breakers.
With a proven track record of developing talent and fostering team chemistry on the global stage, Maor is poised to make an immediate impact in Ann Arbor. Wolverines fans have every reason to be excited about this fresh addition to the coaching staff.