Jason Ludwig has joined Ben Howland’s staff at Mississippi State as director of operations after spending the past two seasons in the same capacity at Arizona State.
Ludwig and Howland know each other well, as Ludwig spent 10 years at UCLA in various roles, including the director of scouting and player development positions he held from 2009-13.
“I’m very excited to be reunited with Coach Howland, as well as with Coach Zeigler and Coach McCray, who I worked with previously,” Ludwig said. “Coach Howland is one of the best in the business and I feel blessed to have another opportunity to work with him. I’m eager to get started and begin this new chapter in my career.”
The native of Montebello, Calif., served two different stints with the Bruins, starting in 2005-06 as the assistant video coordinator before taking the video coordinator job at Santa Clara in 2008 under coach Kerry Keating. The following year, he was named director of operations, a title he held for one season before returning to UCLA in 2010.
Ludwig’s contributions helped the Bruins to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 and a PAC-12 Championship in 2012-2013.
He also directed the UCLA and Ben Howland basketball camps and worked with five NBA players while at UCLA — Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams, Malcolm Lee, and Tyler Honeycutt.
Ludwig’s first stint with UCLA was for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons as the assistant video coordinator documenting the Bruins’ two consecutive Final Four appearances. He broke down film for scouts and player development edits. Similar to his second round with the Bruins, he dedicated his time to assisting current NBA athletes such as Russell Westbrook, Arron Afflalo, Darren Collison, Jordan Farmar, Ryan Hollins, and Luc Mbah a Moute.
His passions off the court extend to assisting young coaches and underprivileged youth.
Ludwig co-founded the Young Coaches Social at the Final Four, an event geared towards networking hundreds of young coaches across the nation. Ludwig was part of the founding members for the Latino Association of Basketball Coaches, which provides support to Latino coaches worldwide, some members being Frank Martin (head coach – South Carolina) and Orlando Antigua (head coach – South Florida).
Ludwig’s early basketball programs began with success in 2007 when he served as head coach for the Double Pump Elite squad, an AAU affiliate program. Every player took a Division 1 scholarship, including NBA starts Paul George and Klay Thompson.
Prior to coaching, he created basketball opportunities for underprivileged youth starting in his hometown of Los Angeles, which eventually spanned to Phoenix.
The camp, JL Hoops, began in 2005 as a free option for at risk children giving them an opportunity not just to play basketball, but also to hear from guest speakers and gain life lessons for off the court success.
His most recent session of JL Hoops took place in Phoenix in June of 2014.
Ludwig received his undergraduate degree from UCLA in 2005 with a degree in Economics. He worked with the basketball team as a student manager from 2001-2005.
The Bruins’ overall record with Ludwig from his time as a student manager through both professional stints is 203-125.
A Montebello, Calif. native, Ludwig played varsity basketball and baseball for Montebello High School. He was named MVP for his junior and senior basketball seasons leading his team to their first league title in 30 years.
http://www.hailstate.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=210038297
