CORVALLIS, OR — On March 9th, well before Michigan's postseason commenced, the Oregon State era under Wayne Tinkle and as an affiliate WCC member officially came to a close with a WCC Semifinal loss at the hands of Gonzaga.
Athletic Director at the time, Scott Barnes, moved in lightning quick fashion to find the replacement for the respected Mr. Tinkle.
Less than 48 hours later, on March 11th, Michigan was waiting patiently to see who they would play on March 13th.
The timeline between those two axis points, changed Justin Joyner's life for good. He had officially accepted the head job at Oregon State University while agreeing to remain on staff at Michigan for the duration of the postseason.
You likely know where this goes. The postseason could not have gone any longer, and by the time Justin Joyner was able to give 100% of his time and energy to Beaver Nation, he was a distinguished National Champion as defensive coordinator for the Michigan Wolverines.
An improbable March and April, which will be remembered as an absolute whirlwind en route to CorVegas, is now the memory.
Justin Joyner will be the first to tell you that he is a "Basketball junkie." He immediately got to work on building a staff who share meaningful bonds with Coach Joyner, and a roster that can compete in year one of the revamped and robust PAC-12.
The staff consists of fellow basketball junkies who are mostly close with and have deep ties to Joyner. Michael Plank, via San Francisco, and Danny Yoshikawa, via West Valley College, will serve as the Co-Associate Head Coaches. The continuity and familiarity with Joyner will serve this team in a focused manner, paving the way for a successful operation.
STAFF:
The staff got to work quickly on a roster that retained Josiah Lake II, a potential All-Pac-12 talent, and brought in Daniel Freitag - a Buffalo Bull scoring machine a season ago.
Several other quality pieces jumped into the Beaver boat. Legend Smiley, a promising prodigy from the USF Dons, followed Coach Plank to Corvallis.
Xavion Staton, via BYU, and Dennis Evans, via Grand Canyon, figure to help anchor a core staple of Joyner's patented defensive reputation, protecting the rim and eating glass.
Jackson Rasmussen was beginning to take the Big Sky by storm last year and played in the NCAA Tournament for the Idaho Vandals. Now, he's ready to level up as a Beaver to help this program rise.
ACTIVE ROSTER:
Coach Joyner was gracious to spend time with me and break it all down. From Michigan to Corvallis, how did it all go down so quick?
The new head coaches' exclusive series has its latest installment.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - JUSTIN JOYNER JOINS ROCCO MILLER:
