The longest-tenured assistant men’s basketball coach in the Ohio Valley Conference, who has been instrumental in raising the profile and national reputation of the program – having a direct hand in some of the highest-rated recruiting classes in Morehead State history, has earned a much-deserved promotion.
Scott Combs is the now the Associate Head Coach for Morehead State men’s basketball.
“Scott has been a valuable asset to our program and has helped myself and our staff grow in many areas through his five years with us. He brings a wealth of experience and also humility that allows him to be very resourceful in finding solutions and navigating our campus,” said Head Coach Preston Spradlin. “Everyone on our staff serves different roles to make our program run efficiently, and Scott is able to elevate those around him with his ability to problem solve and make connections. On a personal level, Scott and his wife Ashley welcomed their first son, Lou into the world during the midst of our regular season OVC Championship run in January and Scott was able to manage all of his personal and professional responsibilities masterfully. This is obviously vital to the success of our program on the court, but more importantly off the court as we strive to demonstrate what being a good father and husband is like for our players.”
Combs has extensive head coaching and administrative experience and a broad knowledge of the Ohio Valley Conference, having completed his fifth season as assistant coach at MSU in 2022-23. Combs is also one of the select few who has played and coached in both the NCAA and NIT tournaments.
Combs helped lead the Eagles to their third straight 20+ win season and first outright OVC regular-season title in 39 years in 2022-23. MSU went on to its first-ever NIT berth and won a first-round game at ACC power Clemson.
He assisted in leading the Eagle program to prominence in 2020-21, winning the program’s first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship in 10 years and leading the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament with a 23-8 record.
With Combs on the bench, the Eagles once again won 23 games in 2021-22 and advanced to the OVC Tournament Championship game.
Combs has been a part of 94 Eagle victories in his five seasons.
Combs joined the Eagles after a successful six-year stint as head coach and associate athletic director at Martin Methodist in Tennessee. He also spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Austin Peay.
Combs led the Martin Methodist RedHawks for six seasons, winning 62 percent of games (119-72) and advancing to three NAIA national tournaments.
During his 12 seasons at Austin Peay assisting OVC Hall of Fame coach Dave Loos, Combs helped lead the Govs to 20-plus win seasons six times and back-to-back OVC championships on two occasions. The 2002-03 and 2007-08 teams advanced to the NCAA tournament while the 2003-04 club finished with a perfect 16-0 league mark and won a game in the NIT. He was also a part of wins over Tennessee and Memphis. During his time at APSU, Combs accumulated five OVC Championship rings, and he helped the Govs qualify for a postseason event seven times.
Combs played his final two seasons (1997-99) at Austin Peay after transferring from Missouri, where he played from 1994-96. In addition, he was a member of a Missouri squad that played in the 1995 NCAA tournament, where they defeated Indiana before bowing out on a last-second shot by UCLA.
A Lebanon, Ind., native, Combs was a standout at Paoli (Ind.) High School, scoring a school record 1,958 points, ranking him 31st all time in the state. He was the runner-up for Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1994 and was selected to play on the prestigious Indiana All-Star team. He was named an AAU All-American six times.
At APSU, Combs posted a 4.0 grade-point average and earned CoSIDA District IV Academic All-District while averaging nearly 10 points and six rebounds per outing as a senior. He served as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and graduated with his bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and education. He earned his Master’s in Sport Administration from Austin Peay.
Combs and his wife Ashley (White) have two children – daughter Chandler Kate (14) and son Lou Victor, born during the 2022-23 season.
