Kerry Rupp, who has 15 years of coaching experience at six universities and has been a part of five NCAA Tournament teams, will join the Oregon State men’s basketball program as associate head coach, Wayne Tinkle announced Wednesday.
“I’m thrilled to have Kerry on our staff here at Oregon State” Tinkle said. “He was with me the last two years at Montana and just brings a wealth of knowledge of the game, both offensively and defensively. He’s unbelievable in player development. You look at who he’s coached and where he’s been; his resume speaks volumes for his experience. We are just excited to have him here at Oregon State.”
Rupp, 60, joined the collegiate ranks in 2000 after a successful 24-year high school coaching career. From 2000-04 he was an assistant coach at Utah and also served as the interim head coach there for part of the 2004 season. He was the associate head coach at Indiana from 2004-06 and an assistant coach at UAB in 2006-07. Rupp was the head coach at Louisiana Tech from 2007-11, the director of basketball operations at Hawai’i in 2011-12 and an assistant coach under Tinkle at Montana the past two seasons.
“I am extremely excited to join Coach Wayne Tinkle’s staff at Oregon State University,” Rupp said. “I have enjoyed working with him the past few years and have always felt like we make a good team together. Although I will miss the players at Montana, I am excited to start working on the vision and plans Coach Tinkle has already begun to implement here at Oregon State.”
Rupp joined Tinkle’s staff at Montana in 2012 and helped the Grizzlies set a Big Sky Conference record with 19 league wins and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. He spent one season as the director of basketball operations at the University of Hawai’i in 2011-12 before moving to Missoula.
A native of Magna, Utah, Rupp got his first college head coaching job in 2007 when he was hired to turn around the Louisiana Tech Bulldog men’s basketball program. During his four years there, he led the team to new heights highlighted by a 24-11 record during the 2009-10 season when the team received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in 19 years and advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Rupp was named the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year in 2010 after leading the Bulldogs to their best record since 1985.
Rupp posted an overall record of 66-77 at Louisiana Tech, including a nine-win improvement between his first and second seasons (6-24 to 15-18) and another nine-win improvement during that historic 2009-10 campaign (24-11). The team went 12-20 in his final year with the Bulldogs.
He was the associate head coach under Mike Davis at Indiana University for two seasons when the Hoosiers made the NIT in 2005 and the NCAA Tournament in 2006. Rupp followed Davis to UAB where he was an assistant coach for one season in 2006-07.
From 2000-04, he coached under Rick Majerus at the University of Utah and helped the Utes amass a record of 70-26 in four years, while receiving bids to the NCAA Tournament three times and the NIT once. Rupp was responsible for the recruiting of Andrew Bogut, who would become the Naismith College Player of the Year and the first overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.
Rupp served as the interim head coach at Utah for part of the 2004 season, accumulating a 10-4 record and winning the Mountain West Tournament Championship for the first time in school history.
Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, Rupp enjoyed a 24-year career in the high school circuit, beginning at Unitah (1978-79) and Murray (1979-82) High Schools as the head boys’ basketball coach. He served as an assistant coach (1986-90) and head coach (1990-2000) at Salt Lake’s City East High School where he led the Leopards to four region titles and two state title game appearances. Rupp also served as the school’s athletic director from 1992-2000.
He was named the Coach of the Year by the Utah High School Activities Association in 1999.
Rupp was an All-American in basketball and an all-state performer in football and hoops at Cyprus High School in Magna, Utah where he graduated in 1972. He played basketball for two years at Utah State before transferring to Southern Utah where was named the Thunderbirds’ MVP and earned all-district and all-conference honors as a senior in 1977.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Utah University in physical education in 1977.
Rupp was born on Feb. 24, 1954 in Magna, Utah. He and his wife, Lori, have five daughters (Alie, Lindsey, Shelby, Billie and Randie) and seven grandchildren.
THE KERRY RUPP FILE
PERSONAL
Born: February 24, 1954 (Magna, Utah)
Family: wife – Lori; daughters – Alie, Lindsey, Shelby, Billie and Randie
EDUCATION
B.S., Physical Education, Southern Utah, 1977
COACHING EXPERIENCE
2000-04 — University of Utah, Assistant Coach
2004 — University of Utah, Interim Head Coach
2004-06 — Indiana University, Associate Head Coach
2006-07 — University of Alabama at Birmingham, Assistant Coach
2007-11 — Louisiana Tech University, Head Coach
2011-12 — University of Hawai’i, Director of Basketball Operations
2012-14 — University of Montana, Assistant Coach
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
1973-75 — Utah State
1975-77 — Southern Utah
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