COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State men’s basketball team is welcoming a new associate head coach.
Head Coach Jake Diebler announced Monday that Joel Justus has been hired on as the team’s new associate head coach. He is joining the program after his Final Four appearance with NC State where he was an assistant head coach.
Diebler said he has known Justus for a while and is excited to have him join the staff.
“He is a well-rounded coach with great experience in the development and recruiting spaces, while winning everywhere he's been,” Diebler said. “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.”
NC State made the NCAA Tournament in both of Justus’ seasons there.
Before he was assistant coach of the Wolfpack, he spent one season at Arizona State, where he worked with former Buckeyes Alonzo Gaffney and Luther Muhammad. He also spent seven seasons on Kentucky’s basketball staff serving in the roles of assistant coach, special assistant to the head coach and director of analytics.
The Athletic named 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.
He began his college coaching career as an assistant coach at Elon University from 2004 to 2008, where he helped guide the team to a Northern Division title in 2006 and the Southern Conference championship game in 2008.
Justus is a 2004 graduate of UNC Wilmington.
