Utah State University Men's Basketball

Ben Jacobson, one of the most successful head coaches of the past two decades, was named the 23rd men’s basketball head coach at Utah State on March 30, 2026. Jacobson is one of the most respected and consistent winners in college basketball, bringing a track record of sustained success, player development and championship culture to Utah State. He comes to Logan after a successful 20-year tenure at the University of Northern Iowa, where he built a dominant program. His teams earned multiple top-25 rankings, posted NCAA Tournament wins over top-seeded opponents and achieved strong academic and on-court success. Jacobson posted a 397-259 (.605) record in 20 seasons at UNI, finishing his time in Cedar Falls as the program's all-time wins leader and averaging 19.8 wins per season. He guided the Panthers to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2026, and four tournament victories. During that span, he led UNI to the Sweet 16 in 2010 with wins over UNLV and No. 1-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Panthers tallied their third NCAA Tournament victory under Jacobson in 2015, defeating Wyoming, before a thrilling half-court buzzer-beater against Texas in the 2016 tournament. In total, 10 of his teams made the postseason, playing in the NCAA Tournament five times, the NIT three times and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament twice. He is the league's all-time leader in conference wins with 220 and conference tournament wins with 24. He ranked second in Missouri Valley Conference history in overall wins and was the only coach in league history to record wins over two different No. 1-ranked teams (Kansas in 2010 and North Carolina in 2015). In 2024, he earned his 188th conference victory, surpassing legendary coach Henry P. Iba to become the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time leader in conference wins.  He was a five-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, becoming the first coach in MVC history to earn the honor five times (2009, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2022). Jacobson's tenure at UNI was highlighted by multiple historic seasons, including nine conference or tournament championships, deep postseason runs and top-25 national rankings, as his teams consistently competed at a high level. Under his tutelage, three players earned the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year award four times, while more than 30 players received all-MVC honors, highlighted by 11 first-team selections. UNI also had 12 players named to the MVC all-newcomer or all-freshman teams, with three earning freshmen of the year honors. Off the court, four players combined for five MVC scholar-athlete of the year awards. During his tenure in Cedar Falls as both a head coach and an assistant, Jacobson helped develop nearly two dozen players who went on to play professionally. In his final season at UNI in 2025-26, Jacobson led the Panthers to a 23-13 overall record, a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. His squad led the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 6.18 points per game. They ranked third nationally in 3-point defense at 28.7 percent, and were also in the top-55 in the country in assist/turnover ratio, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, fouls per game, scoring margin, turnover margin and turnovers per game. In 2021-22, Jacobson guided UNI to an outright MVC regular season championship with a 14-4 league record. After starting the season 4-7, the Panthers went on to win 16 of their next 21 games led by guard AJ Green, who earned MVC Player of the Year honors for the second time in three seasons, while Jacobson was named the league’s coach of the year. The Panthers won the Missouri Valley regular season title in 2019-20 with a stellar 25-6 overall record, including a perfect 16-0 record at home. They were projected to be in the NCAA Tournament field before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. The team posted nonconference wins over South Carolina, Colorado and Grand Canyon that season. The 2015-16 season saw Northern Iowa pick up wins over No. 1 North Carolina, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 25 Wichita State. The Panthers opened the year 10-11 overall and 2-6 in league play, but then rattled off wins in 13 of their next 14 games to capture the MVC Tournament title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Texas in the opening round before falling in double overtime to Texas A&M, 92-88.  In 2014-15, the Panthers compiled a 31-4 record, including a school-record 16-game winning streak, a Missouri Valley Conference tournament title, and the program’s first top-10 national ranking. UNI earned its third NCAA Tournament win under Jacobson and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, with forward Seth Tuttle earning second-team All-America honors. Earlier, the 2009-10 season was historic for the Panthers, who posted a 30-5 record and finished ranked No. 13 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll. UNI ranked second nationally in scoring defense (55.1 points per game) and 10th in fewest turnovers (10.7 per game). The Panthers eclipsed the previous school record for wins by seven games, and earned the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance by knocking off the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. UNI, led by Jacobson, became the first college program ever selected to represent Team USA at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, finishing the tournament 5-1 with victories over Angola, Turkey, China, Finland and Israel. The Panthers’ only loss came to eventual gold medalist Lithuania. Before earning his first head coaching role at UNI, he was hired as the top assistant in 2001, helping turn around the program before taking the reins as head coach in 2006. Jacobson began coaching at the University of North Dakota in 1993-94, then spent two years as a graduate assistant and four as a full-time assistant before joining Greg McDermott at North Dakota State in 2000-01. As a player, Jacobson starred at North Dakota from 1989-93, finishing as the program's all-time assist leader. UND made two Elite Eight appearances, four regional appearances and won two conference championships. He earned NCC all-academic honors in 1993 and hall of fame recognition as a member of the 1989-90 team. A Mayville, North Dakota, native, Jacobson graduated from Mayville-Portland High School in 1989 as valedictorian. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of North Dakota in 1994. Jacobson and his wife, Dawn, have two children, Hunter and Tanner. Hunter played for his father at UNI and was a redshirt junior in 2025-26.   JACOBSON YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD SEASON SCHOOL CONFERENCE OVERALL POSTSEASON 2006-07 Northern Iowa 9-9 18-13 2007-08 Northern Iowa 9-9 18-14 2008-09 Northern Iowa 14-4 23-11 NCAA First Round 2009-10 Northern Iowa 15-3 30-5 NCAA Sweet 16 2010-11 Northern Iowa 10-8 20-14 CIT Quarterfinals 2011-12 Northern Iowa 9-9 20-14 NIT Second Round 2012-13 Northern Iowa 11-7 21-15 CIT Semifinal 2013-14 Northern Iowa 10-8 16-15 2014-15 Northern Iowa 16-2 31-4 NCAA Second Round 2015-16 Northern Iowa 11-7 23-13 NCAA Second Round 2016-17 Northern Iowa 9-9 14-16 2017-18 Northern Iowa 7-11 16-16 2018-19 Northern Iowa 9-9 16-18 2019-20 Northern Iowa 14-4 25-6 2020-21 Northern Iowa 7-11 10-15 2021-22 Northern Iowa 14-4 19-11 NIT Second Round 2022-23 Northern Iowa 9-11 14-18 2023-24 Northern Iowa 12-8 19-14 2024-25 Northern Iowa 14-6 20-13 NIT First Round 2025-26    Northern Iowa 11-9 23-13 NCAA First Round Overall 20 Seasons 220-148 (.598) 397-259 (.605)

Gameli Ahelegbe is in his first season at Utah State as an assistant coach in 2026-27. Ahelegbe follows Jacobson to Logan from Northern Iowa, where he spent the past four seasons (2022-26) as an assistant coach. During his time there, the Panthers improved their record each year and had three seasons with 19-plus wins. UNI qualified for the 2026 NCAA Tournament after going 23-13 overall and winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Ahelegbe helped guide five players to all-conference accolades while at UNI.  Prior to joining Jacobson’s staff at Northern Iowa, Ahelegbe spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at St. Thomas, following seven years (2014-21) at South Dakota. There, he served as an assistant under former Utah State head coach Craig Smith for four seasons, before remaining on staff in the same role under coach Todd Lee. Ahelegbe helped coach the Coyotes to a Summit League championship in 2016-17, followed by a 26-9 campaign in 2017-18, the team’s most wins in its Division I era, and second-most overall.  Ahelegbe served as an assistant coach at North Dakota from 2011-14, where he was part of a pair of Great West Conference tournament titles with the Fighting Hawks in 2011 and 2012. Before that, he was an assistant coach for a season at Concordia (MN) in 2010-11 and at his alma mater of Minnesota State-Mankato in 2009-10. As a player, Ahelegbe began his career at Neosho County CC in Kansas, before playing his final two seasons at Minnesota State-Mankato where his team won 42 combined games during his time there and made an NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. He then embarked on a professional career in the ABA with the Toledo Ice.  Ahelegbe earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2007, then earned a master’s degree in athletics & activities administration from St. Thomas University in 2010.  Ahelegbe and his wife, Syreeta, have four children: Aniah, Azalyn, Areilla and Amawuli.

PJ Hogan is in his first season as an assistant coach at Utah State in 2026-27.  Hogan follows Jacobson to Logan from Northern Iowa, where he has been a staple of Jacobson’s coaching staff for over two decades, working by his side for 23 seasons. After beginning his time at UNI as a graduate assistant in 2003-04 under head coach Greg McDermott, Hogan was promoted to assistant coach in 2005-06, and remained on staff as an assistant when Jacobson took over as head coach the following year. In 2023-24, Hogan was promoted to associate head coach.  During his time as an assistant/associate head coach, the Panthers posted a 422-269 (.611) record with six NCAA Tournament appearances and four tournament victories. He helped guide the team to four Missouri Valley Conference regular season championships (2009, 2010, 2020, 2022) and five conference tournament titles (2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2026).  Northern Iowa earned a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2010 with wins over UNLV and No. 1-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Panthers also tallied an NCAA Tournament victory in 2015, defeating Wyoming, before a thrilling half-court buzzer-beater against Texas in the 2016 tournament. In total during Hogan’s time as an assistant at UNI, 11 teams made the postseason, playing in the NCAA Tournament six times, the NIT three times and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament twice. Under his tutelage, three players earned the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year award a combined total of four times, while more than 30 players received all-MVC honors, highlighted by 13 first-team selections. UNI also had 12 players named to the MVC all-newcomer or all-freshman teams, with three earning freshmen of the year honors. Off the court, four players combined for five MVC scholar-athlete of the year awards. During his tenure in Cedar Falls, Hogan helped develop nearly two dozen players who went on to play professionally. Prior to his time at Northern Iowa, Hogan spent two seasons (2001-03) at Southwest State as the top assistant coach. While there, he helped lead the team to an overall record of 38-18 with two runner-up finishes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In 2001-02, the team won 21 games — the second-most wins in school history — and advanced to the conference tournament championship game.  Hogan also spent one season as an assistant coach at North Dakota State in 2000-01. His coaching journey began as a graduate assistant at Wayne State in 1999-2000. While at Wayne State, Hogan was part of one of the most successful seasons in program history, as the Wildcats went 26-6 and reached the NCAA Division II Tournament Sweet 16.  A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Hogan was a four-year letterwinner at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. He graduated from Morningside in 1999 with a degree in sociology and was named to the North Central Conference’s honorable mention all-academic team. Hogan earned his master’s degree in leisure services from the University of Northern Iowa in 2008.

Barret Peery is in his first season at Utah State as an assistant coach in 2026-27. Peery, a native of Payson, Utah, is a coaching veteran with nearly 30 years of coaching experience across multiple levels of college basketball, both as a head coach and assistant coach.  Most recently, he served as an assistant coach at UNLV for three seasons from 2022-25. While there, the Runnin’ Rebels won 18-plus games all three seasons, including a 21-13 campaign in 2023-24 which saw the team reach the postseason for the first time in 11 years. UNLV’s 21 wins was its most since 2012-13. That season, the Runnin’ Rebels won 12 of their final 16 games to earn a bid to the NIT, where they earned their first postseason victory in 16 years. They also posted four wins over ranked teams, including a victory over No. 8 Creighton.  In his first season at UNLV, he helped the team to 19 wins, including two over ranked teams. The Runnin’ Rebels opened the year with a 10-0 start, their best in 34 years, and an 11-1 non-conference record, their best in 32 years.  Prior to his time at UNLV, Peery served as the associate head coach at Texas Tech in 2021-22 under head coach Mark Adams. That season, the Red Raiders went 27-10 overall, finished third in the Big 12 before making a run to the championship game of the league tournament. The team earned a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament and made a run to the Sweet 16 before falling to No. 2-seed Duke.  Peery was the head coach at Portland State from 2017-21, leading the Vikings to a 63-57 overall record. In his first three seasons at Portland State, Peery’s teams won 54 games starting with a 20-14 record in his first season. The Vikings went 16-16 his second year and 18-14 in his third season. In 2019-20, Peery directed the Vikings to their first six-game winning streak in 11 seasons and the second straight fourth-place finish in the Big Sky - their best placings since being third in 2011-12. Peery’s teams went 30-13 in home games during his four seasons. Under the leadership of Peery, PSU guard Holland Woods became the first Viking to be a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection since 2011-12. He set three new school records in the 2019-20 where he rose to fifth on the Portland State all-time scoring list. Senior center Sal Nuhu earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference after leading the league in blocked shots (2.2 per game) for the second year in a row. Peery led Portland State to 20 wins in 2017-18 - the most ever by a first-year Viking coach and the most in 10 seasons at PSU. The Vikings secured the best nonconference record in school history (10-3), best road record ever (10-6), beat two Pac-12 teams in the same season for the first time ever, and went 7-2 in games against teams from other Division I conferences in the west. Portland State received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament. Before his time at Portland State, Peery was the associate head coach for a season at Santa Clara in 2016-17. There, he assisted head coach Herb Sendek in the revival of the Broncos’ program, as it had its first winning season in four years and placed fourth in the West Coast Conference. He also spent the 2014-15 season on Sendek’s staff as an assistant coach at Arizona State. As the head coach at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa (2011-14), Peery coached his team to 93 wins in three seasons and a trip to the national title game after a 34-3 campaign which included region and district titles in 2013-14. The Warriors went 60-1 at home during his time in Ottumwa.  While at Indian Hills, Peery guided more than 15 players to Division I scholarships during his three-year tenure. His 2012-13 squad averaged a school-record 97.9 points per game and reached the century mark 14 times. His first team at Indian Hills posted a 33-4 record in 2011-12, went undefeated in conference play and was in the top 10 in the nation in both scoring average and winning margin. Peery spent 2008-11 as an assistant coach at Utah. His first season there in 2008-09, the Utes went 24-10 and earned an NCAA Tournament bid. This was the team’s most wins and first tournament appearance in four seasons.  Peery’s first experience as a head coach came at the junior college level for College of Southern Idaho. After spending two seasons as an assistant coach for the Golden Eagles (2003-05), he was promoted to head coach where he won three Scenic West Athletics Conference (SWAC) titles in three seasons from 2005-08. Peery took his team to the NJCAA Division I national tournament twice, including a fourth-place finish in 2007. That season, he was named the SWAC Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Eagles to a 30-2 overall record and a 14-1 league mark. The team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for the last four weeks of the regular season.  In three seasons at CSI, Peery’s teams went a combined 85-19 (.817). Two of his three teams led the nation in scoring. During that span, he placed 23 players to NCAA Division I programs, including nine players from the 2007-08 team.  Prior to going to CSI, Peery was the top assistant at Portland State for one year (2002-03), while also serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator. He helped the team go from five wins to 19 wins in his lone season there. Peery was also the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Southern Utah for four years (1998-2002), helping the Thunderbirds to a 25-6 record and their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000-01. This is still the team’s record for wins in a season, and their lone trip to the tournament. Peery also had stints as an assistant coach at Utah Valley (1997-98), Snow College (1996-97) and Southern Utah (1995-96). He served as a graduate assistant at Southern Utah in 1995-96.  Before getting into coaching, Peery played college basketball at Snow College (1991-93) and Southern Utah (1993-95). He helped lead the Thunderbirds to two conference championships, while earning academic all-league honors and serving as a team co-captain. Peery attended Payson (Utah) High School, where he was an all-region and all-state player.  Peery and his wife, Tracy, have four children: daughter, Kennedy, and sons, Crew, Whitton and Meyer. He graduated from Southern Utah University in 1996 with a degree in physical education.

Geoffrey Groselle is in his first season at Utah State as an assistant coach and video coordinator in 2026-27. Groselle joins the Aggies after spending the 2025-26 season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Creighton. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade playing professional basketball. A 7-foot center, Groselle’s playing career included stops in Germany, Kazakhstan, France, Italy and Poland. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the Polish Liga Koszykówki (PLK) in 2021.  In college, Groselle played 98 games with 43 starts across four seasons for the Bluejays. He finished his collegiate career with 593 points, 317 rebounds, 66 blocks and a school-record .684 field goal percentage. As a senior in 2015-16, he averaged 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds while starting 34 games. Groselle earned a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University in finance in 2014. He then earned his master’s in business administration from Creighton in 2016.  Groselle and his wife, Kelsi, have a son named Brooks.

Haley Langstraat is in her first season at Utah State as director of basketball operations in 2026-27. Langstraat joins the Aggies after spending the past five seasons on Jacobson’s staff at Northern Iowa. She is the third addition to Utah State’s 2025-26 staff, joining assistant coaches PJ Hogan and Gameli Ahelegbe, who each also came from Northern Iowa.  A native of Basehor, Kansas, Langstraat began her time at UNI as assistant director of basketball operations in 2021 before being promoted to director of basketball operations in 2024. In that role, she assisted with organizing team practices and travel schedules, including coordination with hotels and scheduling team meals. She supported the coaches in organizing team class schedules and recruiting calendars, as well as overseeing the team’s managers.  Langstraat also spent four years as a student manager for the Panthers as an undergraduate.  Langstraat graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2021 with a degree in recreating, tourism and nonprofit leadership.