Former Kentucky Assistant Joel Justus Returns to the SEC

Kentucky basketball fans will see a familiar face next season. Former assistant Joel Justus has caught the fever and is making his way back to the Southeastern Conference.

Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reports that Justus is accepting a position on the Vanderbilt coaching staff. He’ll unite with another former UNC-Wilmington grad, Mark Byington.

Justus spent the last two seasons as Jake Diebler‘s associate head coach at Ohio State. He made the move to Columbus after enjoying a wild ride to the Final Four with No. 11 seed N.C. State. Justus worked for Kevin Keatts for two seasons and Bobby Hurley for one at Arizona State once his time at Kentucky ended.

John Calipari paved the way for Justus to enter the college basketball coaching big leagues. Justus started as the Kentucky Director of Analytics for the 2014 season. Two years later, he earned a promotion to full-time assistant coach. Justus logged seven seasons in Lexington before Calipari completely flipped his staff after the abysmal 9-win Covid season.

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Justus will join a Vanderbilt program that saw a rapid resurgence under Byington. The Commodores upset Florida in the SEC Tournament before falling to Arkansas in the championship game. Vandy was a half-court heave away from returning to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. Byington’s name was prominently mentioned in the North Carolina coaching search, but he agreed to a contract extension after becoming the first Vanderbilt head coach to win 20+ games in each of his first two seasons in Nashville.

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