Air Force suspends men's basketball coach Joe Scott indefinitely amid investigation

Air Force has suspended men’s basketball coach Joe Scott indefinitely, the academy announced Saturday. The decision comes amid an investigation into treatment of cadet-athletes.

Scott is in his second stint as Air Force head coach after previously leading the Falcons from 2000-04. Since his return in 2020, he has a 46-118 overall record, including a 3-14 mark so far this season.

Air Force is set to take on Nevada on Saturday afternoon. Assistant coach Jon Jordan will serve as the program’s interim head coach.

“Air Force Men’s Basketball Head Coach Joe Scott has been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into the treatment of cadet-athletes,” the Air Force Academy said in a statement. “Assistant Coach Jon Jordan (USAFA ’85) will serve as interim head coach. No further information is releasable at this time.”

Scott turned Air Force around in his four years as head coach from 2000-04. The Falcons went from an 8-20 record upon his arrival to a 22-7 mark in 2004 to win the Mountain West and make the NCAA Tournament. From there, he be became the head coach at his alma mater, Princeton, from 2004-07.

Denver then hired Scott as head coach in 2007 and he stayed there until his departure in 2016. Following stints as an assistant at Holy Cross from 2016-18 and Georgia from 2018-20, he returned to Air Force in 2020.

Before embarking on his coaching career, Scott got his J.D. degree from Notre Dame’s law school in 1990 following his graduation from Princeton. He got into coaching in 1991 as an assistant at Monmouth and first worked at Princeton from 1992-2000 as an assistant. That’s when Air Force first hired him as head coach.

Air Force enters Saturday’s game against Nevada searching for its first Mountain West win of the year. The Falcons started the year 3-4, but have since been on a 10-game losing streak. Most recently, they fell to San Jose State 70-62 on Tuesday.

Nevada, meanwhile, takes a 12-5 overall record and 4-2 mark in Mountain West play into the matchup with Air Force. The Wolf Pack fell to Utah State, 71-62, last time out – marking their second loss in three games. Prior to that, Nevada had won seven straight games as conference play began. Tip-off between Air force and Nevada is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.