Former OU Basketball Player Shares What It's Like to Now Be Coaching

Ally Lanasa

Jeff Boals cheerfully welcomes his kids into his home for Thanksgiving dinner. All 15 of them. At the table, he makes sure everyone’s set with a fork and napkin before he sits down to eat.

It’s a wholesome family scene. Of course, Boals isn’t exactly a typical dad; he’s only related to two of his “kids” by blood.

Photos by Conner Kurek

The other 13 are basketball players who have become more like family over the years and dubbed Boals as “the dad of the team.” Coaching the Ohio University men’s basketball team this season has been Boals’ 24/7, 365 days per year dream job, and it’s a role he takes just as seriously on and off the court.

“You need to discipline [the players] when you need to discipline them,” Boals says. “You need to hug them when they need a hug; tell them you love them when they need to be loved; kick them in the butt when they need to be kicked in the butt.”

And, you need to take them to Dairy Queen in Richmond, Indiana, on the way home from a tough loss when they need a smile; that’s exactly what Boals did after the Bobcats suffered an 11-point defeat at Ball State University in February. His tough love mentality — emphasis on the love — is what broke a four-game loss streak and resulted in a win against the Miami University RedHawks.

Boals says he recognizes the human element to his team; he knows his players can’t completely control when the ball goes in the basket, but they can always control their attitude and effort. He tells them that focusing on the present moment, not the future or past, is the key to in-game success.

“When a kid misses a shot, he’s not trying to miss a shot,” Boals says. “When he turns it over, he’s not trying to turn it over.”

Boals trains his kids to become great athletes, and the former two-time OU basketball captain, MAC championship winner and NCAA Tournament qualifier knows a thing or two about great athletes. That prestige made Boals highly  respected by his players early on.

“He really truly gets us; he understands us,” says Jason Preston, a sophomore guard. “He was the type of guy who did all the little things, sacrificed his body every day and he really preaches those things on us and we respect him a lot.”

But, before Boals could even compete for the Bobcats, he suffered injuries that nearly kept him from playing college basketball entirely. Boals grew up in Magnolia, a place he calls “small town USA,” where he was a three-sport athlete at Sandy Valley High School. During the North-South All-Star game in Columbus, Ohio, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Boals says he thought his life was over because basketball was everything to him.

“Back then, with a torn ACL, it’s like you’re a damaged good,” he says.

But, Boals’ road to recovery was shorter than expected and he was given the choice to choose between signing at Miami University or OU in 1990; OU won. Boals played all four years under Larry Hunter, but 20 games into his senior year he suffered another torn ACL, which ended his playing career completely. At that time, Boals wanted to use his biology major to become a physical therapist and coaching was the furthest thing from his mind. But, the Bobcats had just lost an assistant coach and Hunter asked Boals if he’d be interested in helping him lead the team. That’s all it took for the 22-year-old to be convinced. 

“I tell people I fell into it,” Boals says. “I tore my ACL, and just fell into it.”

Even after graduating and taking on the role of assistant coach of the OU men’s basketball team in 1995, Boals had a long road ahead before he became head coach of his alma mater and really made the Bobcats his team.

He left Athens after one year coaching under Hunter and took on an assistant role in Charleston, West Virginia, where he met his wife, Katie. Boals then held positions at other schools, like Marshall University and the University of Akron, until he landed a position with The Ohio State University Buckeyes. As a member of Thad Matta’s coaching staff from 2009 to 2016, Boals helped guide Ohio State to seven postseason appearances. Then  he finally took on his first role as head coach at Stony Brook University. Still, Boals says he always longed to return to Athens.

In 2012, during the Final Four in New Orleans, Boals seized an opportunity to try and return to the bricks. He interviewed with OU’s athletic director, Jim Schaus, but didn’t land the job. Two years later, the position of head coach opened again, and again, he didn’t land the job. Boals didn’t let this discourage him, though, and believes that timing is everything. So, when the position opened again in 2019, he took another shot and was hired by the end of March.

“It’s always been a dream job of mine to be [at OU],” Boals says. “And I guess the third time’s the charm, huh?”

Being a former player, Boals has literally walked in his players’ shoes; he’s been in OU’s residence halls, he remembers the bus trips, all the arenas and even the locker room. He’s walked these bricks.

“Not many people can say that, one: they’re coaching at their alma mater, and two: that they played there,” he says.

Photos by Conner Kurek

Now, Boals stands in the halls of the Convocation Center, remembering when he was a player himself. Ben Vander Plas, a sophomore, bounces down the hall and shouts, “Coach!” Plain and simple. Boals, without hesitation, mimics the same enthusiasm right back at him: “Bennett!” Boals is a player’s favorite type of coach because he gets what it’s like to be in their position.

“Our team is a lot closer than it was in the past,” Vander Plas says. “Coach just does a great job at keeping us all positive throughout everything we go through. Even in the off-season.”

Vander Plas is only a sophomore, but is also one of the oldest players on this young team. But, he and his roommate, Preston, have stepped up this year because Boals encourages them to.

“He really trusts us to run his offense but also break off to what we see in the game, so he gives us a lot of freedom,” Vander Plas says. Preston agrees that Boals is not afraid to make changes mid-game.

Vander Plas says the Bobcats’ playbook is much wider under Boals. That’s because he really trusts his kids. Vander Plas also affirms that witnessing the bond Boals has with other great former players, like Gary Trent, is very encouraging. It has helped create some of the same bonds for them.

“It goes beyond basketball too” Preston says. “I can talk to him about things going on in my life and he’s given me advice.”

The passion goes both ways; Preston and Vander Plas remember frequent conversations about how much they love playing with this team and one day, Vander Plas opened Instagram to see a post from Coach Boals that mirrored their sentiments.

“It was really cool to see he feels the same way that we feel,” Vander Plas says.

But, with so many kids under Boals’ wings, it’s not easy. Boals says the most difficult thing about coaching is having a family at home. He’s often away from his biological children, Sydney and Chase, and his wife of 20 years. Boals says he’s missed birthdays, holidays and their own sporting events.

But, to his basketball kids, he’s the guy who nearly went viral dancing at Iona College and who takes them to get ice cream at Dairy Queen, win or lose.

Vander Plas remembers a discouraged atmosphere on the bus, until the driver took an exit on Interstate 70 and Boals made the announcement that they were taking a detour.

“Ice cream puts a smile on everyone’s face,” Boals says. “And you know, it did its job.”

Boals continues to do his job to support his kids, on and off the court. Coaching the Bobcats is his dream job, and that’s why Boals can say so easily, “I love this team.”