UC Bearcats hire Utah State's Jerrod Calhoun as next basketball coach
The 29th men’s basketball coach in the history of the University of Cincinnati is the first UC grad to have the position since Tony Yates and Tay Baker before him.
According to reports from CBS Sports, taking over the Cincinnati Bearcats is 44-year-old Jerrod Calhoun, who just coached Utah State to a 29-7 record, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to top-seeded Arizona.
Advertisement
Calhoun is a 2004 graduate of the University of Cincinnati. Now, 22 years later, the native of East Liverpool, Ohio, will lead his alma mater in the same building where he served as a student assistant under Bob Huggins for the 2003-04 Conference USA league co-champions and C-USA tournament champions. The 2003-04 Bearcats went 25-7 and were a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Atlanta Regional.
Calhoun was surrounded by the likes of Jason Maxiell, Field Williams, Eric Hicks, Tony Bobbitt, Armein Kirkland and James White.
Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun led the Aggies to the Mountain West championship in 2026.
Jerrod Calhoun’s journey from Utah State back to Cincinnati
While he may be on the radar from his 26 wins last season and for this year’s Mountain West tournament champion, Utah State Aggies, Calhoun has paid his dues and comes with solid roots from Huggins.
Advertisement
He assisted the Bearcats after playing two years for Rollie Massimino at Cleveland State. From there, he went to Walsh in northern Ohio, where Huggins started his head coaching career. From 2007-2012, he rejoined Huggins at West Virginia, including the 2010 Final Four run for the Mountaineers.
From 2012-2017, he went 124-38 at Fairmont State, less than a half-hour from WVU, where they were the NCAA Division II runner-up in 2017.
Then- Youngstown State Penguins head coach Jerrod Calhoun reacts during the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in 2018. After a 2007-2012 stint with Bob Huggins at West Virginia, Calhoun led Fairmont State before turning around Youngstown State. He left the Penguins in 2024 and has taken Utah State to two straight NCAA Tournaments.
His only two losing seasons came at Youngstown State, where he was 118-106 from 2017-2024, which included a 46-20 mark in his final two seasons (24-10, 22-10).
That got him noticed in Logan, Utah, where he has led Utah State to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and a 55-15 record in two seasons.
Advertisement
Notable Utah State wins for Jerrod Calhoun
In his first season, Utah State beat North Texas, then coached by current West Virginia coach Ross Hodge. They also defeated USF, St. Mary’s and San Diego State twice, including when they were ranked No. 20 in the nation. The Aggies lost in the NCAA First Round to Mick Cronin’s UCLA Bruins. Current Xavier coach Richard Pitino’s New Mexico team beat Utah State twice.
This season, Utah State beat VCU, which knocked off North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. They also had wins over Memphis and Grand Canyon and defeated UNLV, Nevada and San Diego State in order to win the Mountain West tourney. Before falling short against Arizona, the Aggies beat Villanova for Calhoun’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory.
Jerrod Calhoun was a student assistant for Bob Huggins and the Cincinnati Bearcats when Tony Bobbitt was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2004 Conference-USA tournament at then-US Bank Arena (now Heritage Bank Center).
Calhoun’s lone UC season as a Bob Huggins student assistant
The Bearcats were ranked as high as No. 11 and won the Conference USA Tournament at then-US Bank Arena (now Heritage Bank Center). Tony Bobbitt was the C-USA Sixth Man of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, with Jason Maxiell also making the All-Tournament Team.
Advertisement
UC beat four ranked teams that season (No. 22 Dayton, No. 21 Marquette, No. 10 Louisville and No. 20 Memphis). The Bearcats were 15-1 at the Shoemaker Center (Fifth Third Arena).
Local up note in 2003-04? UC beat Miami University 83-63 in front of 14,873 downtown.
Local down note in 2003-04? Lionel Chalmers made a jumper with 26 seconds left at the Cintas Center to give Xavier a 71-69 win over the Bearcats.
In the NCAA tournament, UC beat East Tennessee State 80-77, but fell short against No. 13 Illinois in the second round 92-68 as the Illini shot nearly 64% from the field.
Big number ahead for Jerrod Calhoun
He is approaching his 300th career win. He is now 1-2 in NCAA Tournament games with Utah State and is 297-159, winning 65.1% of his games. Wes Miller was 100-74 at UC (57.5%) and overall 285-209 (57.7%).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jerrod Calhoun will be Cincinnati Bearcats basketball coach