Youngstown State men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun announced Thursday the hiring of Ben Asher as assistant coach.
Asher spent the last five seasons at Rutgers, most recently serving as the Director of Basketball Operations and Recruiting for two years.
“Ben will be a tremendous addition to our staff,” Calhoun said. “He has a relentless motor and ability to connect with players, and has won at every stop.
“We were together in 2010 as part of the Final Four team at West Virginia, and I’m thrilled to be back working together.”
Asher also served three seasons as Special Assistant to the Head Coach with the Scarlet Knights.
“First and foremost, I’d like to thank Ron Strollo and Jerrod Calhoun for the tremendous opportunity to join a program on the rise at Youngstown State,” Asher said. “Coach Calhoun is one of the best basketball minds in all of college hoops, with a winning record at every level, and I am excited to get the chance to learn from him on a daily basis as we work together to bring the Penguins to unprecedented levels of success.
“I can’t wait to get started and work every single day to ensure we continue to build a program that makes all of our alumni, fans and community proud.”
With Asher on staff, the Scarlet Knights program has achieved new heights and, in 2020-21, qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years.
Among Asher’s many responsibilities were serving as liaison to the athletic department at large, including the areas of communications, RVision, marketing, creative, business operations and facilities management.
He played an integral role in the program’s social media outreach and recruiting initiatives. The Scarlet Knights welcomed a four-recruit signing class in 2018 that included multiple four-star players for the first time at Rutgers since 2008. RU has signed four-star recruits from New Jersey in three consecutive classes, with Ron Harper, Jr. (2018), Paul Mulcahy (2019) and Cliff Omoruyi (2020) all electing to stay home.
Asher was instrumental in supervising the program’s student managers, facilitating team travel, and the development and execution of team camps. During his tenure “On the Banks,” he has aided in the resurgence of the program by helping to cultivate an environment based upon relationships and results.
In 2020, Asher was named to the NABC 30-Under-30 Team.
As Special Assistant to the Head Coach, Asher provided executive level support to Steve Pikiell, while assisting in the overall management of administrative duties and daily functions of the men’s basketball office.
Prior to Rutgers, Asher spent a season serving as Director of Operations at Siena under Jimmy Patsos. The Saints posted a 21-13 overall record and competed in the CBI postseason tournament. He was instrumental in the day-to-day activities of the team, including travel, practices, meals, facility use, team camps and recruiting.
An Oyster Bay, N.Y. native, Asher spent two seasons (2013-15) in the ACC as a graduate assistant at N.C. State under Mark Gottfried. The Wolfpack advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2015, after reaching the ACC quarterfinal and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
Prior to arriving in Raleigh, Asher worked as the head student manager at West Virginia, where he earned a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree in 2013. Under head coach Bob Huggins, the Mountaineers won the Big East Tournament Championship and advanced to the Final Four in 2010, while also earning NCAA berths in 2011 and 2012.
Asher married the former Danielle Capozzoli in summer 2018. The couple has a son, Max, born in May of 2020.
https://www.ysusports.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/releases/asher-release
