Michigan men's basketball coach Mike Boynton Jr. talks keeping team together after losing Dusty May

We're hearing from new University of Michigan men's basketball head coach Mike Boynton Jr. for the first time since he took the reins.

Boynton was promoted from assistant coach to head coach after Dusty May stepped down last month to coach the Dallas Mavericks

Boynton already has a win under his belt as he leads Michigan men's basketball, retaining much of the talent originally brought in by May.

"We have a good roster, we feel like we're going to have a really good staff, and now it's time to turn the page and attack it," Boynton said.

Michigan basketball lost only one player to the transfer portal following May's leap, and Boynton says that was largely due to what this program proved during its national championship run.

"We all, as a group, players, staff included, decided that we wanted to do this together, and what we learned from last year's team is when there's a group that decides they want to do something together, amazing things can happen," Boynton said.

He says his two years of learning May's system as an assistant is another factor that helped players buy into new leadership.

"We'll play the way we thought we were going to play when we recruited these guys all the way up until June 21. There was a plan already in place, and that plan is the plan we're looking forward to continuing to implement," Boynton said.

When asked if the team will feel any impact when athletic director Warde Manuel steps down at the end of 2026, Boynton said, "I don't think one has anything to do with the other in all honesty. Those processes take place mostly out of our control, and we'll focus at that point certainly on just trying to do the best we can during our season to put this program in a position to be successful."

Boynton says the team's nine-day trip to Lithuania and Croatia in August will give him a chance to experiment with lineups and see what this year's squad is truly made of.