Following up on something that HoopDirt.com mentioned back on 11/3 (Daily Dirt). Central Missouri’s hiring of Adam Short as an assistant coach has now been made official. Here is the release from UCM:
The University of Central Missouri and Coach Doug Karleskint is very excited to announce the hiring of Adam Short as the newest assistant coach of Mules Basketball. Short comes to Warrensburg with a wealth of playing and coaching experience and most recently was the Assistant Coach at State Fair Community College.
“I’m extremely excited to get to work alongside Adam”, said Coach Karleskint. “He brings a lot of energy and passion. When we started our search, Adam was someone I immediately identified. He is very well connected not only in this region but nationally. He is going to be a great fit and a tremendous addition to our program.”
In Short’s five seasons with State Fair, he helped the Roadrunners to a 77-69 record. They made the Region 16 Tournament semifinal round three years and advanced to the championship game in his first season. Short has coached 24 players that went on to play at the Division I level, 11 at the Division II level and two that went on to play in the NAIA.
“I’m very excited and grateful to be here at UCM,” said Coach Short. “This has been a job that I have dreamed about for a very long time. In my eyes this is the best Division II program in the country and I’m excited to do my part to help maintain that and reach new heights.”
Before his stint at SFCC, Coach Short has held a number of coaching positions in Missouri and Kansas. He spent 2014-15 at another Region 16 member Missouri State University-West Plains where he coached five Grizzlies that went on to play Division I. Prior to that, Short was an assistant coach at Cowley College and began his career as a student assistant at Avila in 2010-11.
In addition to his coaching at the college level, Short coached with the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League grassroots organization MOKAN for ten years. During his time with MOKAN, Short served on the leadership council that developed program wide offense and defense systems throughout the organization. As the head 16U coach with MOKAN, Short had a record of 27-2 and finished ranked fourth in the country in 2019. In 2018, MOKAN 16U finished the season with a 24-8 record. Both years, Short’s MOKAN teams qualified for Peach Jam. Over ten years with MOKAN, Short has coached more than 30 student-athletes who played at a Division I program including three that are currently in the NBA.
Short began his playing career at Joliet Junior College in Illinois before finishing up at Avila. Short helped Joliet to a national runner-up finish and was a 1,000 point scorer in his two years at Avila. He and his wife Erika Orozco-Short reside in Greenwood, MO.
