The Utah State basketball program has its new head coach. Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson is taking the job, per ESPN. The two sides are finalizing a five-year deal on Monday.
Jacobson has coached Northern Iowa for 20 years. He took the team to a Sweet 16, and made several NCAA tournament appearances during his tenure.
“Jacobson won 397 games over 20 seasons at Northern Iowa, including five NCAA appearances,” Pete Thamel posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Utah State replaced former head coach Jerrod Calhoun, who took the head coaching job at Cincinnati. Calhoun worked previously for the Bearcats under their former head coach, Bob Huggins.
Calhoun took Utah State to the NCAA tournament during the last two seasons. At this year's March Madness, Utah State won their first game against Villanova. The team bowed in the Round of 32 to Arizona.
Utah State fans hope that Jacobson can keep the momentum going. In 2010, his Northern Iowa team made the Sweet 16 by upsetting Kansas. It was one of the most memorable wins for a mid-major in March Madness.
Utah State basketball has been extremely competitive in the last decade.
“His hire at Utah State is indicative of that program's recent success and commitment to the future. Utah State has reached the NCAA tournament in six of the last seven seasons in which the tournament was played,” ESPN reported. “That run of success spans four different coaches reaching the NCAA tournament — Craig Smith, Ryan Odom, Danny Sprinkle and Jerrod Calhoun. (All have parlayed that success to bigger jobs).”
Time will tell if the Aggies continue to have success with their new head coach. Jacobson also worked as an assistant at North Dakota and North Dakota State, before taking over at Northern Iowa.
