A familiar face has earned his opportunity to lead the Morehead State Men's Basketball program. Jonathan Mattox, who spent nine seasons on the MSU bench and helped guide the Eagles to an OVC championship and 154 wins during that time frame, is now in his first season as head coach.
He is the 15th head coach in MSU men's basketball program history.
Mattox began his career at MSU in 2013-14 as a graduate manager and eventually earned his way up to associate head coach for the 2021-22 season. He spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Murray State.
Mattox helped the Racers to a winning record (17-15) in their first Missouri Valley Conference season in 2022-23, winning a game at the conference tournament. Murray State ranked No. 3 in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring defense. As recruiting coordinator, he signed two classes consisting of all-conference and all-newcomer players for the MVC.
Mattox assisted in leading the Morehead State program to prominence in 2020-21, winning the school's first Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship in 10 years and leading the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament with a 23-8 record.
Working primarily with the big men, Mattox helped in the development of Johni Broome, who was named OVC Freshman of the Year and made First Team All-OVC. Broome was the OVC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22. Mattox also helped develop All-OVC member and point guard Ta'Lon Cooper.
Morehead State led the OVC in defense, posted a program-record eight conference road wins and finished 7th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
Mattox was named one of the top assistants in the Ohio Valley Conference and in the nation by multiple media organizations. In 2020-21, he was named the Assistant Coach of the Year by Embrace Us. In 2020, Mattox was named the top assistant coach in the OVC by Jeff Goodman, and also earned a spot on the top 50 list of most impactful assistant coaches at low-major programs by Silver Waves Media.
He officially took on the interim assistant coaching position on Dec. 15, 2016, nine games into the 2016-17 season after the Eagles opened with a 2-7 record. He then helped lead Morehead State to a 12-9 record the rest of the way and a 10-6 mark in OVC play, which ranked second in the league. During that season, Xavier Moon was named First Team All-OVC and DeJuan Marrero was named Second-Team All-OVC.
In 2015-16, Mattox helped mentor the Eagles to a 23-14 overall record and 11-5 Ohio Valley Conference mark, along with a second-place finish in the College Basketball Invitational.
With their trip to the championship series of the CBI, Morehead State won four postseason games, the most in program history. MSU's 20-win season marked the seventh in program history.
Mattox helped coach Morehead State to 20-plus wins twice in four years. The 23 wins in 2015-16 marked the most victories for the Eagles since they finished the 2010-11 season at 25-10.
He helped the Eagles to a 17-17 overall record and 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference mark in 2014-15, despite more than half the team suffering significant injuries.
Mattox assisted MSU to a 20-14 overall record and 10-6 OVC mark in 2013-14. The Eagles made their ninth straight league tournament appearance and played in the CBI. In that first season, Morehead State reached the 20-win plateau for just the sixth time in school history and postseason play for just the ninth time. The Eagles also managed the league's best road record (9-7).
His first coaching job was at his alma mater. Mattox helped NAIA school Emmanuel (Ga.) to a 49-21 record from 2011-13. Mattox was on staff in 2012-13 when the Lions finished 28-5He assisted with on-court coaching, player development, scouting and recruiting for the Lions.
Mattox started his college playing career at Division II member Anderson (S.C.) and finished at Emmanuel. As a senior, he helped the Lions to a 26-8 overall record and Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament championship.
Mattox earned four letters in basketball at Oconee County High School (Ga.). As a senior, he helped the Warriors to a Class AAA Region 8 title and berth in the Class AAA Elite Eight. He notched Second-Team All-Northeast Georgia honors his final two years.
Mattox earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Emmanuel in 2011 and Master's Degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia (Calif.) in 2013.
He married the former Katie Harvill on Aug. 23, 2014. The couple have two children, Jonah and Kyleigh.
