The Michigan men’s basketball team has found a replacement for departing assistant coach Justin Joyner, who left Ann Arbor to become the new head coach of Oregon State.
Head coach Dusty May has reportedly hired Mody Maor, who most recently coached the Nagasaki Velca of the Japanese B.League. The 40-year-old was also previously the head coach of the New Zealand Breakers. The news was first reported by 247Sports’ Alejandro Zúñiga.
Maor is an Israeli-American who began coaching professional basketball in 2012. After several years coaching in Israel, including winning a league title in 2017 as an assistant coach with Maccabi Ashdod, he landed an assistant job with the New Zealand Breakers in 2019 and was promoted to head coach in 2022.
As head coach for the Breakers, Maor amassed a 31-25 regular-season record over two seasons.
“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.
After leaving the Breakers, Maor was the head coach of the Nagasaki Velca of the Japanese B.League since 2024. They went 47-13 this past season, which was the top record in the Western Conference. However, he elected to depart from that role at the end of the season to “pursue other opportunities.”
Now, he finds himself in Ann Arbor, hoping to take what he learned from international play and develop some of the best young talent in the country.
“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 in a story written about how he “transformed” the New Zealand Breakers. “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, I think that’s what you see.”
One of the most significant implications of this hire is the expansion of Michigan’s recruiting footprint. May already has coached a slew of international talent on his rosters, including Aday Mara (Spain), Oscar Goodman (New Zealand), Vlad Goldin (Russia), Malick Kordel (Germany) and Marcus Moller (Denmark).
Adding Maor to his staff means May has a direct connection to the NBL, which has become a premier destination for elite prospects who bypass college for professional experience, or “Next Stars.” Mody’s deep ties to the international basketball community give Michigan a distinct advantage in scouting overseas talent.
