Newly-minted Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang announced the first member of his coaching staff on Tuesday (March 29) with the addition of Jareem Dowling as assistant coach.

“Jareem is an outstanding addition to the staff and I’m excited to welcome him, his wife Cierra and daughter Laiya to K-State,” said Tang. “I have known Jareem for a long time, and I always envisioned him as part of my staff when I became a head coach. He has extensive experience at nearly every level of basketball, both in college and internationally, including an incredible run at North Texas with Grant McCasland the past five years. He fits in perfectly with the rest of the staff and I can’t wait for us to get started.”

An assistant coach with 16 years of experience as well as 12 years of international head coaching experience, Dowling arrives at K-State after spending the last six seasons on staff with McCasland at both Arkansas State (2016-17) and North Texas (2017-22). In addition to his time with the Red Wolves and Mean Green, he has also been an assistant at the NJCAA level at Cecil College in Maryland (2005-08), the Division II level at Slippery Rock (2008-11) as well as Morehead State (2011-12) and Southern Miss (2012-15).

Dowling also brings extensive international experience having served as the head coach for the U.S. Virgin Islands Junior National Team as well as an assistant coach on the Senior National Team since 2007. During his time with the junior team, he has guided them to two silver medals (2008 U16 Centrobasket and 2015 U17 Centrobasket) and two bronze medals (2009 and 2011 U17 Centrobasket) at international competitions.

Dowling has been a part of coaching staffs that have won 361 games – averaging nearly 23 wins per season in his coaching career – and advanced to the postseason on nine occasions, including the 2006 NJCAA Division II National Championship, three trips to the NIT (2013, 2014, 2022) and a memorable run to the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament with North Texas. He has also helped teams to 12 seasons of at least 20 wins, including three 30-win campaigns, and collect four conference titles (2014, 2020, 2021, 2022).

In addition, Dowling has head coaching experience at the prep school level, guiding Scotland Performance Institute in Scotland, Pennsylvania to 19 wins in 2015-16.

“In this new chapter of my life, I’m excited to work for a proven winner in Coach Tang,” said Dowling. “He has been remarkably successful as a head high school coach and has been instrumental in building of one of the top basketball programs in the entire nation as the top assistant for the Baylor Bears. More importantly, he has been a role model for me ever since we met several years ago. He is a man of God, his faith, the way he lives his life has helped me become a better man, husband and father. I’m looking forward to our journey together as we chance and compete for championships.”

Dowling has been praised for his abilities to recruit at a high level especially at North Texas, where he played a significant role in the recruitment of Javion Hamlet, the 2020 C-USA Player of the Year and Male Student-Athlete of the Year as well as 2021 C-USA Tournament MVP, as well as Roosevelt Smart, who became the program’s single-season scoring record holder with 742 points (19.5 ppg.) in 2017-18. This past season, four Mean Green players earned All-Conference USA honors, including Newcomer of the Year and First Team selection Tylor Perry.

Dowling just completed a five-year stint (2017-22) at North Texas, where he helped the Mean Green set the school single-season records for overall wins (25) and conference wins (16) en route to collecting a third consecutive Conference USA Championship in 2021-22. In addition, the team ended the season with the nation’s best scoring defense (55.7 ppg.), which was the best such mark in Conference USA history.

In five seasons at North Texas, Dowling helped lead the Mean Green to 104 total wins, three conference championships, the program’s first wins in both the NCAA Tournament and NIT, a 2018 CBI Championship, the most wins (25) in a single season and twice setting the school record for most conference wins in a season.

When Dowling and the staff joined UNT in 2017-18 they inherited a program that had won just eight games. 

During the record-breaking 2021-22 season, Dowling was part of a staff that helped North Texas to a 25-7 overall record, including a 16-2 mark in Conference USA, and a first-ever trip to the NIT. In addition to setting the school’s single season marks for overall and conference wins, the team won a program-best 15 consecutive games from early January until early March. The No. 2 seed Mean Green beat Texas State, 67-63, in overtime to claim the school’s first-ever NIT victory before losing in the second round at Virginia, 71-69, in overtime.

Dowling and the staff navigated the challenges of COVID-19 to post arguably the greatest season in school history in 2020-21, as the Mean Green claimed their first NCAA Tournament win with a 78-69 overtime victory over Purdue on March 19. It was the first victory over an AP Top 25 opponent since 1972. The team earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 by winning four games in four days at the C-USA Tournament to capture their first league tournament title in 11 years with a 61-57 overtime victory over Western Kentucky.

North Texas had posted its third consecutive 20-win season in 2019-20 and were the No. 1 seed at the 2020 C-USA Tournament before the postseason was cancelled due to COVID-19. The Mean Green went a then program-best 14-4 in league play, ending an 11-game skid against Western Kentucky to win the regular season championship. The team were one of just four nationally to rank among the top 25 nationally in both overall field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage during the season.

Dowling helped the Mean Green increase their win total by 12 games in year one and capture the school’s first NCAA National Tournament Championship with the College Basketball Invitational Tournament title in 2017-18. The success carried overall into year two in 2018-19, as UNT began the season with a program-best 16-1 start.

Dowling followed McCasland to North Texas after one season (2016-17) at Arkansas State, where he helped the Red Wolves double their win total with a 20-12 overall record, including an 11-7 mark in Sun Belt play.

Dowling spent one season (2015-16) as the head coach at the Scotland Performance Institute, where he developed several players that went on to earn college scholarships, including three with Division I programs.

Dowling was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Southern Miss from 2012-15, helping the Golden Eagles post a 65-37 (.637) record and a pair of NIT appearances. The team won 27 games in 2012-13 and captured their first postseason victories since 1988 with their trip to the NIT Quarterfinals, while they collected a school-record 29 wins in 2013-14 and claimed a share of the C-USA regular-season title.

Dowling moved to Southern Miss after spending one season (2011-12) at Morehead State, where he helped the Eagles win 18 games, including 10 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Prior to Morehead State, Dowling was an assistant at Division II program Slippery Rock for three seasons (2008-11), helping the Rock post three consecutive winning seasons, including 21-win campaigns in 2008-09 and 2010-11.

Dowling began his coaching career as an assistant coach for his former college coach and mentor, the legendary Bill Lewit at Cecil College in North East, Maryland in 2005, helping lead the Seahawks to a 97-6 (.942) record in three years. He was part of winning three Maryland JUCO regular season championships, two region tournament championships and one NJCAA Division II National Championship. During his tenure, Cecil finished No. 1 in the final regular season NJCAA national rankings all three years.

Dowling started his college playing career at Cecil, where he played two seasons (2000-03) before transferring and becoming a two-year starter and two-time captain at Maryland-Eastern Shore (2003-05). He was a two-year starter for the Seahawks, leading the team to the 2001 Maryland JUCO regular-season championship as a freshman before returning from an injury in 2001-02 to guide the squad to the Region XX Championship and NJCAA Division II Final Four as a sophomore in 2003. His two-year record at Cecil was 51-11, playing with nine eventual Division I players.

A native of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dowling moved to the Wilmington, Delaware during his high school years. He led Howard High School to the Blue Hen Flight B Championship game and a trip to the state’s final four as a senior in 2000 en route to earning honorable mention all-state and first team all-conference honors. In addition, he qualified for the 2000 Delaware State Blue and Gold All-Star Game.

Dowling earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UMES in 2005, while he added a Master’s degree in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

Dowling and his wife, Cierra, have a daughter, Laiya.

Coaching Experience
Assistant Coach, Cecil College [Md.], 2005-08
Assistant Coach, Slippery Rock [Pa.], 2008-11
Assistant Coach, Morehead State, 2011-12
Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Southern Miss, 2012-15
Head Coach, Scotland Performance Institute [Pa.], 2015-16
Assistant Coach, Arkansas State, 2016-17
Assistant Coach, North Texas, 2017-22
Head Coach, U.S. Virgin Islands Junior National Team, 2007-present
Assistant Coach, U.S. Virgin Islands Senior National Team, 2007-present
Assistant Coach, Kansas State, 2022-present

Playing Career
Cecil College [Md.], 2000-03
Maryland-Eastern Shore, 2003-05

Education
Associate’s Degree in General Studies, Cecil College [Md.], 2003
Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Maryland-Eastern Shore, 2005
Master’s Degree in Sports Management, California University [Pa.], 2011

Personal
Wife: Cierra
Children: daughter Laiya

The Dowling Assistant Coaching File
Year                        School                                 Overall                   Conference           Postseason
2005-06                 Cecil College                         33-2                        —                             NJCAA DII Champions
2006-07                 Cecil College                         33-3                        —                             NJCAA DII Tournament [5^th]
2007-08                 Cecil College                         31-1                        —                             NJCAA DII Playoffs
2008-09                 Slippery Rock                        21-8                        11-3 (2^nd West)     —
2009-10                 Slippery Rock                        15-12                     4-10 (7^th West)     —
2010-11                 Slippery Rock                        21-11                     9-5 (3^rd West)       NCAA II First Round
2011-12                 Morehead State                   18-14                     10-6 (3^rd)               —
2012-13                 Southern Miss                      27-10                     12-4 (2^nd)               NIT Quarterfinals
2013-14                 Southern Miss                      29-7                        13-3 (t-1^st)             NIT Quarterfinals
2014-15                 Southern Miss                      9-20                        4-14 (13^th)             —
2016-17                 Arkansas State                      20-12                     11-7 (t-3rd)           —
2017-18                 North Texas                          20-18                     8-10 (t-7^th)             CBI Champion      
2018-19                 North Texas                          21-12                     8-10 (t-9^th)
2019-20                 North Texas                          20-11                     14-4 (1^st)                Canceled due to COVID-19
2020-21                 North Texas                          18-10                     9-5 (3^rd West)       NCAA Second Round          
2021-22                 North Texas                          25-7                        16-2 (1^st West)      NIT Second Round
Totals (16 years)                                               361-158 (.696)     129-83 (.608)       9 Postseason Appearances
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