The golden era of Yale men’s basketball has taken place over the last decade under the tutelage of longtime head coach James Jones.
Playing no small part in such excellence has been associate head coach Justin Simon, who was named the head coach at Division III Carnegie Mellon University Wednesday.
“I am really fortunate to have been surrounded by so many extraordinary people during my tenure at Yale,” Simon said.
Simon was part of Yale’s first Ivy League championship team in 2001-02 under Jones as a player after being a member of Jones’ first recruiting class.
Simon joined the staff in 2011 as an assistant after serving as head coach at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. Since he joined, Yale has won five regular season titles and three Ivy League Tournament titles and notched its only two NCAA Tournament victories, over Baylor in 2016 and Auburn in 2024. Simon was promoted to associate head coach in 2023.
The trio of Jones, Simon and fellow associate head coach Matt Kingsley presided over this era with consummate skill.
Simon is known in the Ivy League and elsewhere as a primo recruiter and has excelled as a big man’s coach for the Bulldogs. Yale has boasted the best Ivy big men over the last decade. Names like Justin Sears, Brandon Sherrod (now a Yale assistant), Jordan Bruner, Paul Atkinson, EJ Jarvis, Danny Wolf and now Samson Aletan and Nick Townsend.
Simon has spent countless hours during practices and on weekends coaching up these talents, many of whom arrived at Yale as unheralded and left as Ivy stars. He was the lead recruiter for Atkinson, Azar Swain and Isaac Celiscar, among others.
He also has been responsible for scouting many opposing teams and is proud of his scouting for Yale’s 2024 Ivy League Tournament wins over Cornell and Brown.
“Justin is a tremendous fit for Carnegie Mellon,” Carnegie Mellon athletics director Josh Cantor in a statement. “His deep commitment to student-athlete development and his experience with championship programs make him the right person to lead our men’s basketball program into the future.”
“This is a place that values excellence and integrity, both on the court and in the classroom,” Simon said in a statement.
Simon replaces Tony Wingen, who retired after 34 years leading the Pittsburgh school. Last year, Carnegie Mellon was 13-12 and 4-10 in its conference, the University Athletic Association.
Expect Simon to bring in a couple of Ivy League players who no longer have Ivy eligibility.
Simon will start his new post on July 1.
Good article. Quality assistant coaches often overlooked. Good luck to Coach Simon at C-M