Jeff Boals (born September 5, 1972) is the head coach of the Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team. Boals spent seven years as an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team under the tutelage of Thad Matta. In his first head coaching job, he replaced Steve Pikiell as the head coach for the Stony Brook Seawolves for three years.[1][2]
 Jeff Boals | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Ohio |
| Conference | MAC |
| Record | 100–65 (.606) |
| Annual salary | $581,000 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 5, 1972 Magnolia, Ohio, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1991–1995 | Ohio |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1995–1996 | Ohio (asst.) |
| 1996–1999 | Charleston (WV) (asst.) |
| 1999–2003 | Marshall (asst.) |
| 2003–2004 | Charleston (WV) (assoc. HC) |
| 2004–2006 | Robert Morris (asst.) |
| 2006–2009 | Akron (asst.) |
| 2009–2016 | Ohio State (asst.) |
| 2016–2019 | Stony Brook |
| 2019–present | Ohio |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 155–107 (.592) |
| Tournaments | 1–1 (NCAA Division I) 1–2 (CBI) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| MAC tournament (2021) | |
Playing career
editA 1995 graduate of Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences, Boals was a four-year letterwinner on the Bobcats' basketball team.[3] Also a two-year captain, he helped guide Ohio to a 1994 MAC regular season and tournament championship to send the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament, the next season the program won the Preseason National Invitation tournament.[4] In the preseason NIT, the Bobcats notched road victories over Ohio State and Virginia before edging New Mexico State and George Washington at Madison Square Garden. Boals suffered a torn ACL in his senior year of college that ended his playing career.[3]
Coaching career
editBoals landed his first coaching job as an assistant coach at his alma mater after graduating. He then took an assistant coaching job at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, where he stayed for three seasons before joining Marshall as an assistant coach from 1999 to 2003. Boals returned to Charleston as the associate head coach, for one season before jumping back to the Division I ranks with Robert Morris, then to Akron.[5] He joined the coaching staff of Ohio State in 2009, led by Thad Matta, where he was a part of three Big Ten Conference regular-season titles, four NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, an Elite Eight, and a Final Four appearance in 2012.[6] The Buckeyes' record was 193–62 with Boals as assistant coach. Boals recruited players such as D'Angelo Russell and Jared Sullinger to play for Ohio State.[7]
Stony Brook
editOn April 8, 2016, Boals was named the 11th head coach in Stony Brook men's basketball history, and its third since moving to Division I.[6] In Boals' first season as head coach, the Seawolves finished 18–14 (12–4), second in the America East Conference.[8] Boals led the Seawolves to their first 20-win season under his tenure in 2018–19 after which they earned a bid to the CBI.
Ohio
editOn March 17, 2019, Boals resigned from Stony Brook to accept a head coaching position at his alma mater, Ohio University.[9] Boals' contract with Ohio is for five years, with a $581,100 yearly salary.[10] The Bobcats went 17–15 in Boals first season with Ohio. Following the 2019–2020 season, the MAC tournament was cancelled due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic.[11] The next season Boals lead his 2020–21 team to a 17–8 record including 3 wins in the MAC tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the West region. There they upset No. 4-seeded Virginia in the first round[12] before falling to No. 5-seeded Creighton in the second round.[13][14] The Bobcats were led in the tournament by their point guard Jason Preston who declared for the NBA draft where he was the 33rd pick and acquired by the Los Angeles Clippers[15][16] His 2021–22 team opened with a school best 19-3 record but struggled down the stretch to finish 25–10.[17] His 2022-23 team had a lot of roster turnover and slipped to 19–14.[18] His 2023-24 team finished 20–13.[19]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stony Brook Seawolves (America East Conference) (2016–2019) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Stony Brook | 18–14 | 12–4 | 2nd | CBI First Round | ||||
| 2017–18 | Stony Brook | 13–19 | 7–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Stony Brook | 24–9 | 12–4 | 2nd | CBI First Round* | ||||
| Stony Brook: | 55–42 (.567) | 31–17 (.646) | |||||||
| Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Ohio | 17–15 | 8–10 | 5th (East) | ** | ||||
| 2020–21 | Ohio | 17–8 | 9–5 | 5th | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Ohio | 25–10 | 14–6 | 3rd | CBI Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2022–23 | Ohio | 19–14 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2023–24 | Ohio | 20–13 | 13–5 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2024–25 | Ohio | 2–5 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Ohio: | 100–65 (.606) | 54–35 (.607) | |||||||
| Total: | 155–107 (.592) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
*Boals left for Ohio prior to the 2019 CBI and did not coach in the Seawolves' games.
** MAC tournament had to stop due to COVID-19 pandemic.[20]
References
edit- ^ "Jeff Boals Biography". OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Retrieved 21 June 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Stony Brook hires Jeff Boals as new coach". Newsday. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
- ^ a b "Q&A with new Stony Brook coach Jeff Boals". SI.com. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
- ^ Kohli, Kunal (27 February 2017). "Jeff Boals adapting to new culture both on the court and off". The Statesman. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
- ^ "Stony Brook hires Jeff Boals as new coach". Newsday. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
- ^ a b "Stony Brook hires Buckeyes' Boals as new coach". ESPN.com. 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
- ^ "Stony Brook vs. Binghamton – Game Notes January 9, 2019" (PDF). s3.amazonaws.com. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
- ^ "Men's Hoops Welcomes Stony Brook on Tuesday". University of Connecticut Athletics. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
- ^ "Men's Basketball: Jeff Boals named 19th coach in Ohio history". The Post. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
- ^ "No Place Like Home". The Post. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- ^ "Ohio vs. Virginia – Game Recap – March 20, 2021 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ "Ohio vs. Creighton – Game Recap – March 22, 2021 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Henry, Megan. "Athens celebrated March Madness game — despite outcome". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ "Men's Basketball: Jason Preston declares for the 2021 NBA Draft". The Post. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ Mirjam, Swanson (July 30, 2021). "Clippers eager to bet on Ohio's Jason Preston". The Orange County Register. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ "Career Day from Carter Leads Ohio Men's Basketball to Victory Over WMU". Ohio University Athletics. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ "Ohio Bobcats Schedule 2022-23". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ^ "Ohio Bobcats Schedule 2023-24". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
- ^ "Mid-American Conference cancels basketball tournament in Cleveland because of coronavirus concerns". cleveland.com. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 2022-03-04.