​Every coaching cycle, it’s common for college basketball programs to hire head coaches on five-year deals.That’s what former Michigan assistant Justin Joyner received at Oregon State this spring. Same with Randy Bennett at Arizona State, Casey Alexander at Kansas State and Justin Gainey at N.C. State, to name a few.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt some high-major programs, it can be even longer. Mike Malone got a six-year deal at North Carolina and Will Wade inked a seven-year contract to return to LSU.At Michigan, meanwhile, Mike Boynton Jr. agreed to a two-year deal last week to succeed Dusty May, who left for the NBA. While the contract length is notably different, the timing of Boynton’s hiring was too, with May departing for the Dallas Mavericks in late June well after the coaching carousel had stopped.Michigan assistant coach Mike Boynton Jr. walks toward the locker room as Michigan players arrive before the game.Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, whose job security has been in the news this week, explained his reasoning for Boynton’s contract structure during a wide-ranging radio interview.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“The contract is one that really gives him an opportunity to showcase and show what he can do,” Manuel said Tuesday on WTKA’s “The Michigan Insider.”“It gives the ability for him to earn that extra year and maybe another contract is what I told him.”Boynton, 44, previously served as Oklahoma State’s head coach from 2017-24, going 119-109 in seven seasons with the Cowboys before he was fired. He’s spent the last two seasons as May’s top assistant, helping run a defense that ranked No. 12 and No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency during one of the program’s greatest two-year stretches that featured 64 wins, a Big Ten tournament title, a Big Ten regular-season championship, a Sweet 16 appearance and a national title.Boynton was named the interim head coach by Manuel on June 23, a day after May made the jump to the NBA, and had the interim tag dropped two weeks later when he was officially promoted to full-time head coach.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYet, signing Boynton to a prove-it deal isn’t a first for Manuel. When he was UConn’s AD, Manuel initially signed assistant Kevin Ollie to a one-year contract after head coach Jim Calhoun stepped down before the start of the 2012-13 season.After a strong start, Manuel rewarded Ollie with an extension in December 2012. Ollie received another extension after the Huskies won the national title in 2014.It’s possible something similar can happen with Boynton, whom Manuel called a “great person” that he’s gotten to know better over the past few weeks.“By all indications, he is extremely solid, well liked, even with the seven years he was at Oklahoma State,” Manuel said, explaining why he chose Boynton to be Michigan’s next head coach.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He was a vital par