North Michigan News

Matt Majkrzak, head coach of the Northern Michigan men's basketball team, has announced changes to his coaching staff for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Luke Taylor has been hired as an Assistant Coach, while John-Michael Hughes has been promoted to lead Assistant Coach.

"We are extremely fortunate to, yet again, have a great coaching staff for the 2025-26 season," Majkrzak said. "A huge part of our program's success has been the coaches we've had on staff. Part of that success is that they get opportunities to advance their careers. One of the biggest challenges of sustaining success is hiring people who will continue to elevate our program. I'm very confident this staff will keep us competing at the highest level."

Luke Taylor comes to Northern Michigan after working with St. Cloud State's women's basketball team last year and assisting with Buffalo High School boys' varsity team and Minnesota Comets AAU program while completing his master's degree at SCSU. Taylor played four years at St. Cloud from 2020-24, starting in 65 games and earning multiple academic honors. In his senior year, he averaged 9.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in Biology.

"Luke is someone that I recruited as a high school senior to play for me at Bryant & Stratton," Majkrzak stated. "He committed to us, but I ended up taking the Northern Michigan job before ever having a chance to coach him. Since then, we've played against him at St. Cloud State, where he had a tremendous career. I've been able to follow his personal development as a player and coach. It's an incredible full-circle opportunity for both of us. Luke is going to make an outstanding college basketball coach, and we are happy that his journey starts at Northern Michigan."

John-Michael Hughes moves into the role of lead assistant after one year on NMU's bench and previous experience as a graduate assistant at USC under Andy Enfield, where he focused on player development with notable players such as Isaiah Collier, Bronny James, and Boogie Ellis—two of whom were selected in the 2024 NBA Draft—and contributed significantly in scouting and recruiting during Eric Musselman's transition to USC.

"From the day he arrived, John-Michael has made a tremendous impact on our program in scouting, player development, and recruiting," commented Majkrzak. "He's an outstanding young coach who is going to have an incredible future in this profession. We feel very lucky to be able to promote him to the role of top assistant coach, a very well-deserved promotion. John-Michael will be the third top assistant we've had since I've been here, and I have no doubt he will elevate our basketball program to continue winning championships and compete on a national stage."

These changes follow Associate Head Coach Keil Ganz's departure for a Division I Assistant Coach position at UW-Green Bay after two periods with NMU dating back to 2019.

"We are very excited for Keil, as he gets the opportunity to move his family back to his hometown and work at an NCAA D1 school, which also happens to be both of our Alma Maters," Majkrzak said. "The success we've had as a basketball program on and off the floor wouldn't be possible without Keil's tireless dedication to NMU basketball. He was the best man in my wedding, and I'll miss him as a friend, but I'm extremely excited for the next chapter of his coaching journey."