Ohio University Men's Basketball

Jeff Boals, a 1995 Ohio University graduate and two-time team captain, was named the head coach of Ohio Men's Basketball prior to the 2019-20 season. Boals has transformed Ohio into one of the best mid-major programs in the country, winning the MAC Tournament in the 2020-21 season and knocking off Virginia, the defending national champions, in the first round. In 2024-25, Boals coached four Bobcats to All-MAC honors. AJ Clayton and Jackson Paveletzke earned Third Team nods, Shereef Mitchell was tabbed Honorable Mention and Elijah Ellott was named to the All-Freshman squad. Boals returned to Athens after spending the previous three seasons (2016-19) as the head coach at Stony Brook. A member of Thad Matta's coaching staff from 2009-16, Boals helped guide Ohio State to seven postseason appearances, including six NCAA Tournaments. Prior to Ohio State, Boals spent three seasons at Akron, serving as the team's recruiting coordinator and working with the post players. Boals spent two seasons (2004-06) at Robert Morris and four years (1999-2003) at Marshall. During his junior season in 1993-94 at Ohio, the Bobcats went 25-8 overall and won the Mid-American Conference regular season championship.

Crawford joined Ohio as an assistant coach in September 2025. Crawford returned to Ohio after spending one year as the Director of Basketball Operations at Stony Brook, where he led pre- and post-game film sessions, scouted opponents, coordinated video operations and coached post players. Prior to Stony Brook, Crawford served as a graduate assistant on Jeff Boal's staff at Ohio, maintaining NCAA compliant recruiting logs and assisting with operations and camps. Before that, he held the position of head student manager, maintaining and organizing a group of 10 managers through day-to-day activities and assisting in travel coordination. Crawford also served as a director and board member of Grow The Game, facilitating relationships among student managers across the country. Through coaching, Crawford has played a role in the development of players like Mark Sears, Jason Preston, Jason Carter, Dwight Wilson III and Ben Vander Plas. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2022 and a Master of Science in Recreation in 2024 from Ohio.

Updated: June 16, 2025 Kyle Barlow joined the men's basketball staff in April 2019 and works primarily with preparing the Ohio offense. While on staff, Ohio won the

Updated June 16, 2025 Lamar Thornton joined the men's basketball staff in March 2019 and primarily handles the Bobcats' defense. In his second season at Ohio...

Updated June 16, 2025 Lee Martin joined the men's basketball staff in July 2020 and handles player personnel duties. In his first season on the sideline for ...