Johns Hopkins Director of Athletics Alanna Shanahan announced today the appointment of Josh Loeffler as the University’s head men’s basketball coach. Loeffler succeeds Bill Nelson, who announced his retirement in March after 31 seasons with the Blue Jays. He is the 16th head coach in program history and will assume his duties on June 1.
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected as Johns Hopkins’ next men’s basketball coach,” said Loeffler. “I would like to thank Alanna Shanahan and Mike Mattia for this opportunity. Bill Nelson established a tradition of winning and excellence at Johns Hopkins and I am honored to inherit the program he has built. The commitment to winning at Johns Hopkins is unquestioned and I am looking forward to contributing to one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation.”
Loeffler inherits a team that went 16-10 and finished tied for second in the Centennial Conference last season. Hopkins has had 26 winning seasons, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and three Centennial Conference Championships in the last 29 years. JHU has also produced a Jostens Trophy winner, two All-Americans, seven NCAA Postgraduate Scholars, seven CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and 74 all-conference selections.
Loeffler has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at Loyola Maryland. While with the Greyhounds, he was responsible for practice and game preparation, opponent scouting and recruiting. He recruited Andre Walker, the program’s first First Team All-Patriot League selection. Walker earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors in 2016 and was an All-Rookie Team selection in 2015.
Loyola advanced to the Patriot League Quarterfinals in 2017 before falling to second-seeded Boston University. In all, Loeffler has coached four All-Patriot League selections, two Patriot League All-Rookie Team members and a Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year (for all sports) during his time with the Greyhounds.
“We are thrilled to welcome Josh to Johns Hopkins as our next head men’s basketball coach,” Shanahan stated. “Among a group of very talented and accomplished candidates for the position, Josh’s vision, passion and energy were just a few of the qualities that stood out to our selection committee, as well as members of our team. He has a proven record of success both as a head coach and assistant coach, has recruited student-athletes who have competed at high levels both on the court and in the classroom and defined clearly his expectations for success in all areas of our program. We look forward to Josh and his family joining the Johns Hopkins community.”
Loeffler joined the Greyhounds after stints at Rutgers as Director of Basketball operation (2012-13) and as an assistant at Lafayette (2008-12). He was the recruiting coordinator for the Leopards and their 2011 recruiting class was the highest ranked in the Patriot League. While at Lafayette, Loeffler recruited a pair of All-Patriot League selections (First and Second Team) and three All-Rookie Team members. He also coached two additional all-league performers and another who was the 2012 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
“We are thrilled for Josh, (his wife) Helen and their daughters that he has this opportunity to take the head coaching job at Johns Hopkins,” said Loyola head coach G.G. Smith. “Having worked for Bill Nelson in the past, I can think of no one better to step into the role of coaching and mentoring Blue Jay players. Josh has been a tremendous part of our staff here at Loyola in recruiting, player development and in-game coaching, and we wish him nothing but the best at Johns Hopkins.”
Prior to joining the Lafayette staff, Loeffler was the head coach at Stevens Institute of Technology for two seasons. In his first season in Hoboken, he guided the Ducks to a school-record 23 wins (23-7) and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and was named the NABC and D3hoops.com Atlantic Coach of the Year. The following year, Loeffler led Stevens to a 23-6 record, tying the program record for wins in a season and setting the record for best win percentage (.793). His 2008 squad won the Empire 8 regular season title and led the nation in field goal percentage defense (.375). Loeffler coached a pair of two-time all-conference selections, a two-time all-region honoree and an Honorable Mention All-American.
Loeffler began his coaching career in 2003-04 at Hamilton College, where he helped the Continentals to a 19-8 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. He then joined the staff as a graduate assistant at St. Lawrence University for the 2004-05 season. He was the lead recruiter for the Saints’ Class of 2009, which produced four 1,000-point scorers, a Liberty League Championship and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. Loeffler then joined the coaching staff at Williams, where he recruited the Class of 2010, which included a pair of 1,000-point scorers and the 2010 Jostens Trophy winner, and led the Ephs to the 2010 NESCAC Championship and a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship.
Loeffler is a 2003 graduate of Swarthmore College with a degree in Economics. He was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter for the Garnet men’s basketball team. He also played one year of football at Swarthmore. A native of West Grove, PA, Loeffler is married to the former Helen Leitner, a 2004 Swarthmore graduate and member of the field hockey team. The pair have two daughters, Alison (four) and Margot, born in December.
