Josh Loeffler named JHU men’s basketball coach
Josh Loeffler will assume his head coaching role at Johns Hopkins on June 1.
After four seasons as the assistant coach at Loyola Maryland, Josh Loeffler has been named the head coach of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men’s basketball team. Loeffler will stay in town and move just down the road when he assumes his duties on June 1 as the successor to Bill Nelson, who announced his retirement in March after 31 seasons with the program.
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected as Johns Hopkins’ next men’s basketball coach,” Loeffler said in a statement. “I would like to thank Alanna Shanahan and Mike Mattia for this opportunity. Bill Nelson established a tradition of winning and excellence at Johns Hopkins and I am honored to inherit the program he has built. The commitment to winning at Johns Hopkins is unquestioned and I am looking forward to contributing to one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation.”
The Blue Jays went 16-10 last year and finished tied for second in the Centennial Conference last season. Johns Hopkins had 26 winning seasons under Nelson, including 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament and three Centennial Conference championships in the last 29 years.
Loeffler served as an assistant coach for GG Smith at Loyola. He was responsible for practice and game preparation, opponent scouting and recruiting. He was the lead recruiter for Andre Walker, Loyola’s first First Team All-Patriot League selection.
Loyola went to the Patriot League quarterfinals in 2017 and was selected to the College Basketball Invitational.
“We are thrilled to welcome Josh to Johns Hopkins as our next head men’s basketball coach,” Director of Athletics Alanna Shanahan stated. “Among a group of very talented and accomplished candidates for the position, Josh’s vision, passion, and energy were just a few of the qualities that stood out to our selection committee, as well as members of our team. He has a proven record of success both as a head coach and assistant coach, has recruited student-athletes who have competed at high levels both on the court and in the classroom and defined clearly his expectations for success in all areas of our program. We look forward to Josh and his family joining the Johns Hopkins community.
Prior to joining the Greyhounds, Loeffler was the Director of Basketball operations from 2012-2013 and was an assistant coach at Lafayette from 2008 to 2013. Loeffler was the head coach at Division III Stevens Institute of Technology for two seasons and took the Ducks to the NCAA Sweet 16 and was named both the NABC and D3hoops.com Atlantic Coach of the Year after a 23-7 season in 2006-07, a record for wins in the program’s history. The next year he led the Ducks to an Empire 8 regular season championship and they led the nation in field goal percentage defense. He began his coaching career at Hamilton College in 2003. He also coaches at St. Lawrence University.
“We are thrilled for Josh, (his wife) Helen and their daughters that he has this opportunity to take the head coaching job at Johns Hopkins,” Loyola head coach GG Smith said. “Having worked for Bill Nelson in the past, I can think of no one better to step into the role of coaching and mentoring Blue Jay players. Josh has been a tremendous part of our staff here at Loyola in recruiting, player development and in-game coaching, and we wish him nothing but the best at Johns Hopkins.
Loeffler is a 2003 graduate of Swarthmore College, one of Johns Hopkins’ rivals in the Centennial Conference. He was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter for the Garnet.
Corey Johns
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