A big day for LSUS men’s basketball as the Pilots have promoted J.A. Anglin to Associate Head Coach. Anglin spent last season, his first with the Pilots, as an assistant but he will be on the sidelines this upcoming season as the Associate Head Coach for Head Coach Kyle Blankenship.
Anglin was no stranger to the LSUS program when arriving last season to coach. John Anthony finished his playing career with the Pilots after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Northwestern State in Natchitoches. He made two national tournament appearances and garnered a pair of Academic All-Conference honors during his time in uniform for the Pilots. J.A. received his Bachelor’s degree in History at LSUS before embarking on his coaching career.
Anglin’s first stop on his coaching journey was in 2011 at the University of Texas El Paso. He stayed until 2013 before moving back to Louisiana and joining the Warhawks of ULM as an assistant coach, where he would remain for three seasons until 2016. El Paso came calling again as he returned back to UTEP at the beginning of the 2016 season in an assistant coaching capacity and coached the Miners for two seasons before joining forces with Kyle Blankenship at LSUS last year.
A few of the highlights of Anglin’s coaching career before LSUS include being named by Under Armour as one of the top 30 assistants under the age of 30, helping ULM to 44 wins in two seasons and knocking off teams like Oregon, Nebraska, Middle Tennessee, Clemson, and Memphis while assisting at UTEP. John Anthony also finished his Master’s degree in exercise science during his time at ULM.
His first season with the Pilots he helped LSUS achieve a national tournament appearance, a top-20 ranking, and post a 23-win campaign. He worked primarily with the post players and it led to one of his biggest achievements to date: coaching the NAIA National Player of the Year, Jeff Garrett. Under Anglin’s tutelage, Garrett put together one of the best seasons in LSUS history. Jeff led the nation in defensive rebounds per game with just over 10 per contest, total rebounds at 14 per game and total rebounds by pulling down an astounding 481 boards. He was also named the RRAC Player of the Year after shooting 53% from the field on the season. Many around the LSUS campus, and Jeff himself, credit Anglin’s coaching savvy as one of the reasons for the historic performance by Garrett.
While Anglin has made a big impact on the court and with the recent promotion to Associate Head Coach, there are even bigger things happening for J. A. and his wife Susan, off the court. They prepare to welcome a baby girl into the family after announcing just a week ago the great new addition to the Anglin family.
