By Danielle Daniels

April 8, 2024

Justus has spent the previous two seasons as an assistant at NC State

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State men’s basketball head coach Jake Diebler has announced the hiring of Joel Justus as associate head coach. Justus joins the program after a Final Four run on staff at NC State.

“Joel is someone I have known for a while and I’m excited to have him join our staff,” Diebler said. “He is a well-rounded coach with great experience in the development and recruiting spaces, while winning everywhere he’s been. His vision for building a program and developing a winning culture is something I was looking for and I can’t wait for him to get started.”

Justus and the Wolfpack made the NCAA Tournament in both of his seasons, including a magical run to Final Four this year. NC State also won the ACC Tournament last month and won 49 games over the last two seasons.

Prior to NC State, Justus spent one season on Bobby Hurley’s staff at Arizona State, where he worked with former Buckeyes Alonzo Gaffney and Luther Muhammad. Before his time at ASU, Justus spent seven seasons on Kentucky’s basketball staff, including the last five as an assistant coach.

In his first season as an assistant coach, Kentucky won both the SEC regular-season and tournament championships while advancing to the Elite Eight. He played a key part in securing what the Recruiting Services Consensus Index calculates as the best recruiting class ever in 2017 and the No. 1 class in 2020.

Highlighted as one of the top young assistants in the country, The Athletic tabbed Justus one of the top 40 people in college basketball under 40 and ESPN named him one of the nation’s top 40 coaches less than 40 years old in 2020.

Justus started his college coaching career as an assistant coach at Elon University from 2004-08, where he helped guide the Phoenix to a Northern Division title in 2006 and the Southern Conference championship game in 2008.

A 2004 graduate of UNC Wilmington, Justus helped the Seahawks capture two Colonial Athletic Association titles, make three postseason appearances (NIT in 2001 and NCAA in 2002 and 2003) and was team captain his senior season.

Joel Justus’s Coaching Career
2024-Pres.     Ohio State                            Associate Head Coach
2022-24         NC State                              Assistant Coach (2 seasons)
2021-22         Arizona State                        Assistant Coach (1 season)
2016-17         Kentucky                             Assistant Coach (5 seasons)
2015-16         Kentucky                             Special Assistant to the Head Coach (1 season)
2014-15         Kentucky                             Director of Analytics (1 season)
2012-14         Davidson Day HS (N.C.)      Head Coach (2 seasons)
2008-12         Woodberry Forest HS (Va.)   Head Coach (4 seasons)
2004-08         Elon                                     Assistant Coach (4 seasons)

#GoBucks

COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS