Northern Illinois men’s basketball head coach Mark Montgomery has announced the promotion of Jason Larson to assistant coach following two seasons as NIU’s director of basketball operations.
“I am excited to be able to promote Jason to an assistant coaching position,” said Montgomery. “Jason has done an unbelievable job the last two years in his role as director of ops. He is a hard worker and I know he will do a great job working with our guys on the court, in recruiting and in scouting. Through his experiences at Grand Valley, Western Michigan and Utah, I know that he is more than ready for this opportunity.”
Larson began his career at Division II Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich., he has spent the last eight years working in Division I basketball in various capacities.
"I am extremely thankful that Coach Montgomery has the confidence in me to contribute to the program at a higher level,” said Larson. “I have learned a great deal observing him and our staff as well as the other programs I have been a part of and I am eager to put that knowledge to use. Coach Montgomery is a great mentor and leader, and I appreciate the opportunity to help him move our program in the right direction.”
A native of Manistee, Mich., Larson began his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant at Grand Valley before being promoted to a full-time assistant coaching role for the 2004-05 season, helping the Lakers win 18 games and mentoring Callistus Eziukwu to GLIAC Freshman of the Year honors.
Following that season, Larson moved on to Western Michigan where he spent two seasons as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations. The Broncos finished second in the MAC West in each of Larson’s two seasons in Kalamazoo.
Prior to coming to NIU, Larson was a member of the basketball staff at the University of Utah for four years. He began his time with the Utes as Video Coordinator in 2007-08 before becoming Director of Player Development for his final three seasons in Salt Lake City under head coach Jim Boylen.
Larson helped the Utes win the Mountain West Conference championship in 2009 and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Utah finished the season ranked 25th in the Associated Press poll and Luke Nevill earned honorable mention All-America and Mountain West Player of the Year honors. Larson helped mentor 13 all-conference selections during his time with the Utes.
Larson spent the last two seasons as NIU’s Director of Basketball Operations; his primary responsibilities have been scheduling, budgeting, travel, camps and on-campus recruiting.
Larson earned his bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State in broadcasting, with a minor in Spanish, in 2004 and his M.B.A. from Western Michigan in 2009. He and his wife, Juliana, reside in DeKalb.
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