INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan coach Dusty May has a bone to pick with Oregon State about hiring one of his assistants, Justin Joyner, to be the new head coach of the Beavers.
“I feel like he was tampered with,” said May, cracking a smile. “He was under contract at Michigan.”
As the Michigan and UConn coaching staffs prepare for the national championship game Monday night, two assistant coaches are juggling a second job. Their next job.
Joyner is headed to Oregon State. Huskies assistant Luke Murray — son of actor Bill Murray — is the new head coach at Boston College. It’s made a pair of busy and extended NCAA Tournament runs even more consuming, as the two balance the travel and responsibilities of both positions at the same time.
“I’m doing the best I can to make sure that I’m honoring both,” said Murray, who added he and Joyner exchanged texts after each landed their new roles. “We had a feeling we might see each other here (at the Final Four).”
Wrapping up his second season at Michigan, Joyner was officially hired at Oregon State on March 11, just as the Big Ten tournament was underway, and held an introductory press conference before March Madness tipped off. Murray, in his fifth season at UConn, is coaching for a third national title in four seasons under Dan Hurley, and less than a week after his introduction in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
“I went to Boston (last) Monday and met with all the players on the team and saw the campus for the first time,” Murray said. “Tuesday morning, I had the press conference and missed practice (at UConn). It’s the first time I’ve missed a practice — ever. So that had me out of sorts.”
Murray made the drive back to Storrs, Conn., in time to catch the team plane to the Final Four on Wednesday. Despite the excitement of landing their first Division I head coaching gigs, both Murray and Joyner were determined to finish the season with their respective teams — runs that have brought both all the way to the final game.
“Honestly, if (leaving Michigan early) would have been a prerequisite for (Oregon State), I wouldn’t have taken the job,” Joyner said. “It’s something I wasn’t really willing to give up.”
Instead, both are pulling double duty, fitting staff hires, inherited player meetings and the opening of the transfer portal Tuesday around tournament scouts and practices. It requires long days and haggard sleep schedules, but it’s also the life these coaches signed up for. Joyner, 38, played at UC Santa Barbara and spent seven seasons on staff at Saint Mary’s before joining May at Michigan. Murray, 41, is already in his 19th season of college coaching, with prior stints at Rhode Island, Xavier and Louisville.
“When you get to that point where nothing really phases you, that’s when you know you can handle being a head coach,” fellow UConn assistant Mike Nardi said. “Because it’s not just coaching, it’s not just practice, right? You have alumni relations, you have NIL, you have the portal, your own players — like, it’s nonstop.”
Luke Murray, right, has worked for Dan Hurley at UConn for five years. He will take over at Boston College after the national title game. (Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
Or as Hurley affectionately put it: “When you get sick, obsessed people like Luke Murray on your staff, he’s able to balance it because all he ever thinks about is basketball.”
Their coaching brotherhoods have tried to lessen the burden. As much as May and Hurley value what their assistants bring to the table, they also take pride in fostering these new opportunities, the same way previous coaches did for them. May took the time-consuming task of scouting opponents off Joyner’s plate for the last few weeks, though not without some resistance. Two days after he was hired by Oregon State, the Wolverines faced Ohio State in the conference tournament, a team Joyner had scouted twice already. He insisted on going 3-0 against the Buckeyes, but May cut him off after that.
“You’re going to be obsessed with putting together a good team and staff for Oregon State next year,” May told him. “I think it’s very fair for you to stay here and still bring your personality and your coaching to the equation. But as far as the details and the 15 hours of scouting an opponent, I think you should use that time to get off to a great start for Oregon State.”
Joyner still found ways to contribute, including helping assistant Mike Boynton Jr. with the semifinal scout against Arizona on Saturday, as the Wolverines romped to an 18-point win. Joyner scouted Michigan’s matchup against Gonzaga back in November, and the Wildcats run a very similar system, one Joyner is familiar with from his time coaching on the West Coast.
“I leaned on him. He knows that system well,” Boynton said. “He’s still a huge part of what we’re doing.”
Murray witnessed it up close, sitting courtside for the Wolverines’ win after the Huskies defeated Illinois on Saturday, taking notes for the championship bout.
There’s also the personal side, beyond basketball. Joyner and Murray are both married with children, having to navigate new houses and new schools alongside roster construction and Final Four game tape. Murray half-joked about his concern for how his sons, ages 8 and 6, will handle the change of scenery.
“My kids are die-hard Huskies fans, and they’ve been along for this ride the whole way,” Murray said. “It’s hard for them to even imagine not being at UConn games.”
Joyner has made multiple trips to Corvallis, Ore., in recent weeks, though he admits he’s been training for it. His wife, Tracy, was hired as the head coach of Oregon women’s soccer in December 2024. The two spent the last 18 months criss-crossing the country with their daughter, Weslee.
“I’ve probably taken 30-plus red-eye flights, so it’s just kind of been the norm for me the last couple years,” Joyner said.
In that sense, this new job feels like a light at the end of a long, grueling tunnel. His family already has a place in Eugene, near Oregon’s campus and less than an hour from Oregon State.
“It’s a big deal for him and his family,” Michigan assistant Kyle Church said. “We’re really happy for him for that, especially.”
While Joyner and Murray have leaned on their fellow coaches during this final sprint through March and early April, they’ve provided a nice diversion for them as well.
“When you want a healthy distraction from preparing for machines like Michigan or Illinois,” Hurley said, “I get a chance to go over to Luke and start asking him how it’s going putting his staff together, and some of the conversations he’s having with players.”
Joyner said the Michigan staff has ribbed him about the differences in budgets and resources at Oregon State, but that the whole team applauded him on the bus when the Beavers landed their first 2026 recruiting commitment on Easter Sunday.
Murray said Hurley has remained his typical candid self, offering opinions on the rest of his staff whom Murray might consider taking with him to Boston College.
“He’ll tell me what a bad assistant coach someone is, you should never hire that guy, this guy sucks,” Murray said. “It has created a little bit of levity.”
One way or another, the dual-role marathon will come to an end late Monday night — with heartbreak for one and hardware for the other. Then the next journey starts immediately. The transfer portal window opens at midnight, likely minutes after the final buzzer sounds in Lucas Oil Stadium. Both Joyner and Murray will be off and running Tuesday, in different team-sponsored gear.
“If we win, I’m gonna have a hell of a night with these guys for sure,” Joyner said. “And then the bounce back is gonna have to be strong.”