'Relentless' Michigan assistant Akeem Miskdeen: 'I'm here to serve people'

Michigan Wolverines basketball assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen is reunited with head coach Dusty May, after working for him at Florida Atlantic from 2018-21. Miskdeen moved on to Florida (2021-22) and Georgia (2022-24) under Mike White. May came calling once he landed in Ann Arbor, and Miskdeen didn’t hesitate when considering taking a job on the staff, and he’s grateful to be back in the Midwest.

“This is a huge opportunity not only for my coaching career but for my family,” Miskdeen said on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast with host Brian Boesch. “Me being from Chicago, four hours away, this is big for them. Matter of fact, my brother texted a couple days ago, ‘Hey, when is the first game? I need 100 tickets.’ I don’t know if we can make that work, but we gotta figure it out.”

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Back in 2018, Miskdeen left Kent State to coach with May at Florida Atlantic, with mutual connections getting them in touch. Miskdeen helped the Owls turn the program around, posting winning seasons in all three years he was there and setting the foundation for the 2023 Final Four run. Miskdeen was the primary recruiter for star guard Johnell Davis, who was part of a recruiting haul that changed the trajectory of the program.

“We got the ball rolling with trying to build that program honestly from not much, not much history,” Miskdeen said of Florida Atlantic, which began its program in 1993-94. “We helped build that program to what it is now, but the first three years it was up and down, but we had winning seasons each year, and we recruited a really good class. That class got them to the Final Four.

“It was a lesson for me. I have this jotted in the back of my head about how to build a program and which way to go and these are the principles and the standards that you have to live by, and everybody’s gotta be held accountable for those standards. Coach May did a great job the first three years and throughout his six-year career there. He did a great job of upholding those standards.”

Miskdeen values relationships in recruiting and life. The Michigan assistant made a point to come to New York for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in 2023, supporting May, Davis and the Owls.

“Every time I leave a place — but in particular I know how close our staff and players were — I always tell players that I recruit or even players that I coach that this is not a one-, two-, three- or four-year relationship; this is going to be a 40-year relationship,” Miskdeen said.

“That means championships, graduations, I want to attend if I can. I had an opportunity to attend that because those are relationships I cultivated, and I still have those relationships. Those are my guys, and they’ll always be my guys, no matter what stage of life they’re in.”

Miskdeen has spent time at Hampton, where he had help with laundry due to a lack of resources at the school, Kent State, Florida Atlantic, Florida and Georgia. He’s made loads of connections along the way.

“[Michigan director of communications] Tom [Wywrot] wrote a bio for me, and I read it, and it said 17 years [experience coaching],” Miskdeen said. “I’m like, ‘What? I’ve been in this thing for 17 years?’

“But it helped me cultivate a ton of relationships, whether that’s recruiting relationships, whether that’s other coaching relationships that helped me learn different ideas from coaching.

“Being with different coaches helped me learn from them and learn things of whether it’s offense or defense. So I got a unique background, because I’ve been with so many different coaches and I have some stuff in the vault that I can bring out for drills or have some recruiting contacts that I can call. 

“Just coaching in different spots and for so many years, you establish so many relationships, you establish so many old ideas and new ideas that you have in your brain and that you can bring to the table. I am gonna bring those to the table for Coach May, because he’s so in the way that he wants to learn and grow — and so do I.”

Akeem Miskdeen is ‘relentless’

Miskdeen — who played guard at Laramie County (Wyo.) Community College and Queens University (N.C.) — has a reputation as a high-level recruiter, and the success has come from his values and his energy.

“I would say relentless,” the Michigan assistant said of how he’d describe himself as a recruiter. “I try to be relentless at anything I do, whether that’s cultivating relationships or on the court with my energy, enthusiasm. I’m doing something that I love to do, so I’ll probably never have a bad day. And if I do, you’ll never be able to tell. 

“I’m a family man. I have a five-year-old Skylar Grace Miskdeen. Me and my wife [Lasherra] have been married for eight years. She’s moved a lot, too, so bless her. I love her to death.”

The tight bonds he’s formed with his players also stand out.

“Mentoring, that’s probably the biggest thing I’ll bring on the court and off the court, just being a good example for our guys so they can see a man doing it the right way,” Miskdeen said. “And giving it all I have for them on the court specifically and off the court, too. I want those guys to feel comfortable talking to me about anything.

“It’s funny, I always say I always knew I was going to be a coach once I got to about sophomore year in college. I was like, ‘I’m not making the NBA,’ so I always wanted to coach. I just didn’t know if I was going to coach high school or whatever, but I got a couple breaks. I always say, man, I wish I could go back and major in psychology, but then I said that and [Michigan assistant Coach [Mike] Boynton [Jr.] actually said this the first week, ‘Man, you already got a psychology degree — you got 17 years worth.’

“But I just want to be there for the guys, man. I want to be a helping hand. I want to be a helping hand for the University of Michigan, whether that’s with the coaching staff, the administration or whoever. I just want to help out. I’m here to serve people. That’s why I was put on this Earth, and I’m going to try to do it to the best of my capabilities and be relentless while I’m doing it.”