Geno Ford

Last updated
Geno Ford
Geno Ford.png
Ford in 2019
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Stony Brook
Conference CAA
Record78–78 (.500)
Annual salary$370,000 [1]
Biographical details
Born (1974-10-11) October 11, 1974 (age 49)
Cambridge, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1993–1997 Ohio
1997–1998 Leicester Riders
Position(s) Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998–2001Ohio (GA/assistant)
2001–2002 Shawnee State
2002–2005 Kent State (assistant)
2005–2007 Muskingum
2007–2008Kent State (assistant)
2008–2011Kent State
2011–2015 Bradley
2016–2019 Stony Brook (assistant)
2019–presentStony Brook
Head coaching record
Overall240–232 (.508)
Tournaments3–2 (NIT)
0–1 (CBI)
2–2 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
MAC regular season (2010, 2011)
Awards
2× MAC Coach of the Year (2010, 2011)
Ohio Mr. Basketball (1993)

Gene A. "Geno" Ford [2] (born October 11, 1974) is an American college basketball coach and former college and professional basketball player. He is currently the men's head coach for the Stony Brook Seawolves, a position he has held since 2019. He was previously the head coach at Shawnee State University, Muskingum University (then Muskingum College), Kent State University (2008–2011) and Bradley University (2011–2015).

Contents

Ford was an assistant coach at Ohio University, Kent State and Stony Brook. He was promoted to head coach at Stony Brook after serving on Jeff Boals' staff for three seasons. Before turning to coaching, Ford was a prolific scorer in high school and in college at Ohio University. He graduated with the second-most points scored in Ohio high school basketball and the fourth-most points for the Ohio Bobcats.

Playing career

High school

Ford was a high school standout at Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Ohio, playing for his father, Gene Ford. In 1993, after his senior season, he was named Ohio Mr. Basketball by the Associated Press. [3] Ford scored 2,680 points in high school, second-most in history at the time of his graduation [4] and currently the fourth-most behind Jon Diebler (3,208 points), Luke Kennard (2,977 points) and Jay Burson (2,958), but higher than LeBron James (2,646). [5] Ford still holds the record for most free throws made in a season (288) and most career free throws (697) in Ohio high school boys' basketball. [4] He was named to the All-Ohio Division II first team following both his junior and senior seasons and was also a two-time All-Eastern District Division II Player of the Year and two-time All-OVAC Class 4-A first team pick. [4] In 2004, Ford was named to the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. [6]

College

Ford played at Ohio University as a guard from 1993 to 1997, wearing No. 12. [7] In four seasons with the Bobcats, Ford averaged 14.2 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting. [8] He led the Bobcats in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons, averaging 18.9 points per game in 1995–96 and 18.7 in 1996–97. [9] Ford was named to the All-MAC Second Team in 1996 and the All-MAC First Team in 1997. [9]

Ford scored 1,752 points in college, graduating as the fourth-highest scorer of all time in Ohio Bobcats program history. [9] He currently stands at sixth. [9] Ford started 113 games, breaking the program record at the time (currently fifth), while he also still ranks in the top 10 for three-pointers made and free throws made. [9] Ford currently holds the program record for most free throws made in a single game (19) on February 2, 1997, breaking the old record (17) which had stood for 42 years. [9]

Coaching career

Ford began his coaching career in 1998 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Ohio University, and then promoted to a full-time assistant coaching position the next season, before becoming head coach at Shawnee State University of the NAIA in 2001. After one season at Shawnee State, he was hired as an assistant at Kent State under Jim Christian, where he coached for three seasons. In 2005, Ford was hired as head coach at Muskingum College, now Muskingum University, of the NCAA Division III, where he coached for two seasons before returning to Kent State as an assistant.

Kent State

Ford was promoted to head coach at Kent State in 2008 following Christian's departure to TCU, and coached the Golden Flashes for three seasons. [10] At Kent State, Ford led the team to consecutive Mid-American Conference regular season titles in 2010 and 2011, winning MAC Coach of the Year both years. [11] [12] His teams at Kent State advanced to the postseason in each of his three seasons, playing in the 2009 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and the 2010 and 2011 National Invitation Tournaments. He finished with a record of 68–37 at Kent State, including 35–17 in MAC play.

After the 2009–10 season, Kent State reached a five-year extension with Ford that increased his salary to $300,000 per year, making him the highest-paid basketball coach in the MAC. [13]

Bradley

Ford left Kent State one year into the extension to become the head coach at Bradley University, where his salary increased to $700,000.

Ford's teams at Bradley never finished above 7th in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), advancing to post-season play in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. He was relieved of his duties at the conclusion of an injury-riddled 2014–15 season, where the Braves finished 9–24 overall and 3–15 in the MVC. Ford's record at Bradley was 46–86 overall and 19–53 in MVC play. [14]

Contract breach lawsuit

Kent State sued Ford for breach of contract in 2011, claiming that Ford owed Kent State the sum of his salary over the four remaining years, worth $1.2 million, as a buyout agreed to in his contract. [13] Kent State rejected Bradley's offer of a single $400,000 payment and won the lawsuit in 2013, forcing Ford to pay his former employer $1.2 million. [15] [16] In 2015, Kent State filed a new lawsuit against Ford and Bradley for tortious interference of contract, indemnification, third-party beneficiary contract, fraudulent transfer and civil conspiracy. [15]

Stony Brook

Following a year off as a college basketball analyst for ESPN3, Ford was hired in 2016 as an assistant for Stony Brook under head coach and his former Ohio teammate Jeff Boals. [17] On March 17, 2019, Ford was named the interim head coach of Stony Brook after Boals resigned to accept the head coaching job at Ohio University. [18] Ford's interim tag was removed on March 26, when Stony Brook announced his promotion as the fourth head coach in the school's Division I era. [19] Ford's contract is for five years, running through the 2023–24 season, with the ability to negotiate an extension after the 2021–22 season. [20]

In Ford's first season, Stony Brook won 20 games for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons and finished in second place in the America East, their ninth top-2 finish over that time period. [21] After defeating Albany in the America East quarterfinals, Stony Brook was upset 64–56 at home by Hartford in the semifinals to end their season at 20–13. [22] Ford's second season at head coach saw Stony Brook finish 9–14, the program's worst record in 13 years. [23]

Ford won his 200th game as a head coach on December 14, 2021 against Central Connecticut. [24] In Ford's fourth season, Stony Brook moved from the America East to the Colonial Athletic Association, but the Seawolves suffered multiple season-ending injuries and finished 11–22 to tie for ninth. [25] On February 7, 2024, Ford was extended for two more years through the 2025–26 season. [26] In March 2024, as the seventh seed in the CAA tournament, Stony Brook advanced to face top-seed Charleston in the championship game by upsetting two-seed Drexel, 91–88 (2OT) in the quarterfinals [27] and three-seed Hofstra, 63–58 in the semifinals. [28] Stony Brook led Charleston 40–35 at the half and held Charleston scoreless in the final five minutes of regulation, scoring nine straight points to tie the game at 73 and go into overtime, where the Seawolves ultimately lost 82–79. [29] Stony Brook was the first seven seed to advance to the CAA Finals since East Carolina in 1993. [30]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Shawnee State (American Mideast Conference)(2001–02)
2001–02Shawnee State 22–1013–53rd
Shawnee State:22–10 (.688)13–5 (.722)
Muskingum (Ohio Athletic Conference)(2005–07)
2005–06Muskingum 17–912–63rd
2006–07Muskingum 12–136–128th
Muskingum:29–22 (.569)18–18 (.500)
Kent State (Mid-American Conference)(2008–2011)
2008–09 Kent State 19–1510–6T–3rd (East) CIT First Round
2009–10 Kent State 24–1013–31st (East) NIT Second Round
2010–11 Kent State 25–1212–41st (East) NIT Quarterfinals
Kent State:68–37 (.648)35–13 (.729)
Bradley (Missouri Valley Conference)(2011–2015)
2011–12 Bradley 7–252–1610th
2012–13 Bradley 18–177–11T–7th CIT Quarterfinals
2013–14 Bradley 12–207–117th
2014–15 Bradley 9–243–1510th
Bradley:46–86 (.348)19–53 (.264)
Stony Brook (America East)(2019–present)
2018–19 Stony Brook 0–1* CBI First Round*
2019–20 Stony Brook 20–1310–62nd
2020–21 Stony Brook 9–147–97th
2021–22 Stony Brook 18–1310–83rd
Stony Brook (CAA)(2022–present)
2022–23 Stony Brook 11–226–12T–9th
2023–24 Stony Brook 20–1510–8T–6th
Stony Brook:78–78 (.500)43–43 (.500)
Total:240–232 (.508)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

*Ford was named interim head coach on March 17, 2019, after Boals took the head coaching job at Ohio. In addition, Ford holds a 5–5 postseason record as a Division I head coach (3–2 NIT, 0–1 CBI, 2–2 CIT).

Personal life

Ford is married to his wife, Traci. He has two sons: Darin and David. His son, Darin, is the head coach at Nordonia High School in Ohio. Meanwhile, his younger son, David, served as director of player development under Ford at Stony Brook during the 2021-22 and 2022-2023 seasons. [31] Ford's brother, Dustin, is the associate head coach at Akron and also played for Ohio from 1998 to 2001. [32]

Related Research Articles

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The 2009–10 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. The team was coached by Geno Ford and played their home games in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. They are members of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 13–3 in MAC play to win the east division and overall regular season championship. As the 1 seed they were upset by 9 seed and eventual champion Ohio in the quarterfinals of the 2010 MAC men's basketball tournament. As regular season champions they received an automatic bid to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament where they advanced to the second round before falling to Illinois.

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The 2022–23 Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team represented Stony Brook University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Seawolves, led by fourth-year head coach Geno Ford, played their home games at the Island Federal Arena in Stony Brook, New York as first-year members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 10–21, 6–12 in CAA play, to finish in a three-way tie for 9th place. In the CAA tournament, they defeated North Carolina A&T in the second round before falling to College of Charleston in the quarterfinals.

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The 2023–24 Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team represented Stony Brook University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Seawolves, led by fifth-year head coach Geno Ford, played their home games at the Island Federal Arena located in Stony Brook, New York as second-year members of the Coastal Athletic Association.

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The 2024–25 Charleston Cougars men's basketball team will represent the College of Charleston in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They will be led by first-year head coach Chris Mack. The team will play its home games at TD Arena in Charleston, South Carolina, as a member of the Coastal Athletic Association.

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