Jerrod Calhoun. Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Cincinnati to orchestrate homecoming with Jerrod Calhoun as next HC

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Mar 23, 2026 9:09 PM ET

Jerrod Calhoun will be making a homecoming as the next head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program.

Calhoun is an Ohio native, and he graduated from Cincinnati in 2004.

He played as a guard at Cleveland State from 2001 to 2003, but got into coaching before his time in college even ended. He was a student assistant for Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins as a senior at Cincinnati.

Calhoun will now be coming back to Cincinnati as the Bearcats need to replace Wes Miller, who is now the head coach at Charlotte. Cincinnati fired Miller earlier in March after he went 0-5 in getting the Bearcats to the NCAA Tournament since 2021.

The Bearcats are undoubtedly hoping that Calhoun can find better March Madness success, and there's reason to believe that's possible.

Calhoun has been the head coach at Utah State for the past two seasons, and he just led the Aggies to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Utah State beat Villanova before losing to Arizona in the Round of 32.

Cincinnati has agreed to a deal with Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun, source told @thefieldof68.

Calhoun, 44, graduated from Cincinnati before starting his coaching career at Walsh University. Calhoun was the head coach at D-2 Fairmont State for 5 seasons before taking…
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 23, 2026

Jerrod Calhoun is a two-time conference Coach of the Year

Calhoun went 55-15 in two seasons at Utah State and went 2-0 in NCAA Tournament appearances. This past season, the Aggies finished with a 29-7 record and won both the Mountain West regular season championship as well as the MWC tournament.

Utah State was a nine-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the Aggies impressively beat No. 8-seeded Villanova by 10 points.

Calhoun, 44, is from East Liverpool, Ohio. Before Utah State, he had stints as the head coach at Fairmont State (DII) and then Youngstown State.

He was the 2022-23 Horizon League Coach of the Year for leading Youngstown State to a 24-10 record and regular-season championship in that campaign. He was also the Mountain West Coach of the Year for this past season.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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