Jeff Boals (born September 5, 1972) is the head coach of the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946 ...

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team. Boals spent seven years as an assistant coach for the

Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball The Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represents Ohio State University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. The Buckeyes are a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes play their home games at Value City Arena, Value ...

team under the tutelage of

Thad Matta Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American college basketball coach who is currently in his second stint as head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team, having been head coach of the Bulldogs for the 2000–01 season. Fro ...

. In his first head coaching job, he replaced Steve Pikiell as the head coach for the

Stony Brook Seawolves The Stony Brook Seawolves are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Stony Brook University (SBU) in Stony Brook, New York. The Seawolves play as members of the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly known as the Colonial Athletic As ...

for three years.

Playing career

A 1995 graduate of

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in biological sciences, Boals was a four-year letterwinner on the Bobcats' basketball team. Also a two-year captain, he helped guide

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

to a

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

regular season and tournament championship to send the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament, the next season the program won the Preseason National Invitation tournament. In the preseason NIT, the Bobcats notched road victories over

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

before edging

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

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. Boals suffered a torn ACL in his senior year of college that ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Boals 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 The University of Charleston (UC) is a private university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. It also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as the Barboursville Semin ...

in West Virginia, where he stayed for three seasons before joining

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

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 Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

. He joined the coaching staff of Ohio State in 2009, led by

, where he was a part of three

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

regular-season titles, four NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, an Elite Eight, and a Final Four appearance in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. The Buckeyes' record was 193–62 with Boals as assistant coach. Boals recruited players such as

D'Angelo Russell D'Angelo Russell (born February 23, 1996), nicknamed "DLo", is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2014 and played college ...

and

Jared Sullinger Jared Malcolm Xavier Sullinger (born March 4, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketbal ...

to play for Ohio State.

Stony Brook

On 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. In Boals' first season as head coach, the Seawolves finished 18–14 (12–4), second in the

America East Conference The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachu ...

. 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

On March 17, 2019, Boals resigned from Stony Brook to accept a head coaching position at his alma mater, Ohio University. Boals' contract with Ohio is for five years, with a $581,100 yearly salary. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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

in the first round before falling to No. 5-seeded Creighton in the second round. The Bobcats were led in the tournament by their

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

Jason Preston Jason Preston (born August 10, 1999) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract for the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. He played c ...

who declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

where he was the 33rd pick and acquired by the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

His 2021–22 team opened with a school best 19–3 record but struggled down the stretch to finish 25–10. His 2022-23 team had a lot of roster turnover and slipped to 19–14. His 2023-24 team finished 20–13 and tied for second in the conference. Entering the 2024-25 season, the Bobcats received 11 of the 12 first place votes to win the

but could only post a 16–16 record.

Head coaching record

*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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

Ohio Bobcats coaching bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boals, Jeff Living people Akron Zips men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio Charleston Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches Ohio Bobcats men's basketball coaches Ohio Bobcats men's basketball players Ohio University alumni Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball coaches People from Magnolia, Ohio Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball coaches Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball coaches 1972 births 20th-century American sportsmen