Justin Joyner
American basketball coach (born 1988)
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Justin Joyner (born February 25, 1988) is an American college basketball coach, currently the Beaver's men's basketball head coach at Oregon State University. He was hired in 2026 after previously holding assistant roles at the University of Michigan and Saint Mary's College of California. As a player and an assistant coach, Joyner has won championships at every stop of his career.
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Joyner with the 2025–26 Michigan Wolverines in February | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Oregon State |
| Conference | Pac-12 |
| Record | 0–0 (–) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | February 25, 1988 Concord, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Playing career | |
| 2006–2011 | UC Santa Barbara |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2017–2018 | Saint Mary's (DBO) |
| 2018–2022 | Saint Mary's (assistant) |
| 2022–2024 | Saint Mary's (associate HC) |
| 2024–2026 | Michigan (assistant) |
| 2026–present | Oregon State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 0–0 (–) |
Playing career
In high school, he was the starting point guard for the 32–1, 2006 De La Salle High School California State Division I champions.[1] In the championship game, after his teammates missed all three prior free throw attempts in the final minute, he made a pair with 7.7 seconds left in a 43-40 victory over Clovis West High School.[2]
Joyner played college basketball for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos from 2006 through 2011, where he appeared in 112 games with 74 starts, averaging 3.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He was also a three-time team captain and a 2007 all-freshman selection by the Big West.[3][4] The Gauchos won the 2010 and 2011 Big West Conference men's basketball tournaments.[5] The 2009–10 Gauchos were also the Big West regular season co-champion (with Pacific).[6]
Coaching career
After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Joyner earned $800/month ($1145 in 2025) in a Bay Area AAU program coaching youth basketball.[7]
Saint Mary's
Joyner got his first career coaching job in 2017 as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Saint Mary's Gaels of the West Coast Conference (WCC). After one season, he was promoted to serve as an assistant coach. Before the start of the 2022 season, Joyner was once again promoted to be the team's associate head coach.[8][9] In his final two seasons with Saint Mary's, the 2022–23 and 2023–24 Gaels won the 2022–23 and 2023–24 WCC regular season championships, respectively. The later also won the 2024 WCC tournament.[10]
Michigan
In April 2024, he was hired by Dusty May at the University of Michigan as an assistant coach for the Wolverines.[11] The 2024–25 Wolverines won the Big Ten men's basketball tournament.[12] The 2025–26 Wolverines won the Big Ten Conference regular season[13]
Oregon State
On March 11, 2026, Joyner was hired to be the head coach at Oregon State University for the Beavers.[14][15] Oregon State would be returning to the newly revamped Pac-12 Conference for the 2026-27 season where the Gonzaga Bulldogs were expected to be the dominant program. Joyner had enjoyed prior coaching successes against Gonzaga.[10] On March 16, he held a press conference in Corvallis, Oregon to meet the local press as the new head coach after agreeing to a 5-year contract worth $4.85 million over the life of the deal (beginning at an $850,000 annual base salary and increasing by $50,000 each season).[7] Joyner would remain with Michigan through the 2026 NCAA tournament.[16] Although there was an urgency to "retain players, to build a staff, and to prepare for the transfer portal", Joyner's efforts for Oregon State were not expected to ramp up until Michigan's season was concluded.[17]
Personal life
Joyner's wife, Tracy, is the head soccer coach at the University of Oregon. They have a daughter, Weslee.[16] Before being hired by Oregon in December 2024,[18] Tracy had spent five years as head coach for the UC Davis Aggies. They had lived together in the Bay area near Saint Mary's until their 2024 coaching changes.[7][17]