Michigan Announces A Special Top Star Player Worth $900,732.1 million For 2024/2025 Coming Season….

Michigan football has formally hired Lionel Stokes as a defensive analyst, The Michigan Insider has learned. 247Sports first reported the Wolverines’ interest in Stokes in…

Michigan football has formally hired Lionel Stokes as a defensive analyst, The Michigan Insider has learned.

247Sports first reported the Wolverines’ interest in Stokes in mid-March:

“Michigan is expected to hire Lionel Stokes as a defensive analyst, sources tell 247Sports,” Matt Zenitz wrote on March 13.

“In addition to working at Louisiana with new Michigan DB coach LaMar Morgan, the ex-Louisiana starting safety has also been a defensive coordinator at Jackson State and a DB coach at Jackson and Nicholls.”

Now, that move is official, and is Stokes an employee of Michigan Athletics.

In addition to Stokes, Michigan football will soon add former Baltimore Ravens standout Pernell McPhee to its staff, as we reported last month. McPhee appears in the University of Michigan directory as a graduate student in the School of Social Work, but he is expected to join the Wolverines as an analyst.

“McPhee, who played collegiately at Mississippi State, played 11 seasons in the NFL. Has been a longtime favorite of new Michigan DC Wink Martindale, who coached him with the Baltimore Ravens,”  Matt Zenitz reported last month.

McPhee played with the Ravens from 2011-14 and 2019-21, and he won Super Bowl XLVII with Baltimore against Jim Harbaugh and the San Fransisco 49ers in February 2013.

The two new staffers join a defensive coaching room that has been completely rebuilt following the Wolverines’ national championship run in 2023. It’s led by Wink Martindale, the longtime NFL defensive coordinator who refers to himself as the “OG” of the Ravens’ defensive scheme that Michigan implemented through Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter.

“I think the great thing is that we were all together, Mike (Macdonald), Jesse (Minter) and I and, obviously, others you’ve seen throughout the NFL. I think there’s like six teams that are running this system now. Same thing college-wise, D’Anton Lynn at USC,” Martindale said earlier this spring.  “It’s been a lot of fun, and I think we all have our own personalities but I think we all call games differently than each other. Some are more aggressive, some are less aggressive.

“The thing that I love about it is the system works. It’s proven that it works. I think both Mike and Jesse did a tremendous job here at Michigan and it’s fun for me to watch the tape because you do become the proud parent, if you will, of seeing other guy’s success and everything else. I think as the defensive coordinator, I think it’s my job to not only develop players but to develop coaches. You’re seeing a lot of success with those guys.”

The rest of U-M’s full-time defensive staff includes Lou Esposito, LaMar Morgan and Brian Jean-Mary.

Dusty May targeting first assistant coach hire with Michigan basketball: report

Dusty May is targeting his first hire since becoming the Michigan men’s basketball program’s new leader. According to a Tuesday night report from CBS…

Dusty May is targeting his first hire since becoming the Michigan men’s basketball program’s new leader.

According to a Tuesday night report from CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, the Wolverines are eyeing Mike Boynton Jr., who was most recently the head coach at Oklahoma State, to join the program as an assistant.

“Former Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton Jr. is soon expected to join Dusty May‘s staff at Michigan as an assistant, sources tell CBS Sports,” Norlander wrote Tuesday night. “Boynton has other options at the high-major level, but May has put a high priority on Boynton in Year 1 in Ann Arbor.”

Boynton, 42, went 119-109 in seven seasons with the Cowboys, including a 12-20 this season. However, his program was hampered by NCAA punishments related to an assistant’s arrest — a federal case that did not involve Boynton and whose ramifications loomed over the program for years.

Oklahoma State was Boynton’s first head coaching job; other stops included assistant roles at Stephen F. Austin under Brad Underwood, at South Carolina and elsewhere.

From his Oklahoma State profile:

Defense has been a hallmark under Boynton. His teams have led the Big 12 in blocked shots and finished among the top-20 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings in each of the last three seasons.

Known as one of college basketball’s good guys, Boynton was a finalist for the 2021 Skip Prosser Man of the Year, given annually to a head coach who exhibits strong moral character. Core values of his program center on respect, appreciation, accountability and discipline. “They let me coach them hard, because they know that I care,” he told the audience at his introductory press conference on Mar. 24, 2017.

In his first six seasons as the helm, Boynton has mentored 10 All-Big 12 selections and 22 academic all-conference honorees, including Cade Cunningham, who earned consensus First Team All-American, National Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year honors during a standout 2020-21 season.

Cunningham, drafted No. 1 overall by the Detroit Pistons, joins Cameron McGriff (Blazers) and Lindy Waters III (Thunder) as NBA players developed at Boynton’s Oklahoma State program.

If May can land Boynton, he would arrive to a Michigan program in the midst of a major overhaul. In addition to the coaching change, the Wolverines have at least eight open scholarship spots available for the 2024-25 season.

“Year one is important for putting a product on the floor that people want to be a part of, and that means a lot of things,” May said at his introductory press conference. “How the players interact with each other, the connection between them, the connection between them and the students in the fan base? I do feel that we need to put a good team on the court from day one, in year one, and then continue to build. Therefore we’ll sign some high school players, we’ll sign some portal players, but also having some continuity where it’s not a roster overhaul every year.

“There won’t be a point when we just throw in the towel and say we’re not going to be competitive this year because it’s year one. We want to win and we want to be able to to to sell that going forward — what we were able to do in year one.”