Bengals Tap O’Brien to Lead
IDAHO FALLS, Id. – The Idaho State University Bengals announced Wednesday the school’s new men’s basketball coach.
The Bengals hired Joe O’Brien, which was announced at a press conference, as the 20th coach in school history. O’Brien replaces Doug Oliver, who announced in January that he was stepping down at season’s end.
“I would like to thank the members of the search committee as well as the others, both from the campus and the community, who took part in the interview process,” ISU Director of Athletics Paul A. Bubb said Wednesday. “I feel each candidate received a very thorough and diverse day on campus and I was able to receive input from a number of individuals and groups which helped me in this process.”
Sources said that the response to the opening at ISU was abundant. A veteran of 21 seasons of collegiate basketball, including 13 as the head coach of a pair of NJCAA institutions, O’Brien brings a rich, winning tradition to Idaho State. O’Brien owns a career head coaching mark of 313-117 for a .728 winning percentage.
He earned his first collegiate head coaching job at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Ill., where he led the Lynx to four straight 20-win seasons, including a 25-6 mark in 1993-94. While at Lincoln, O’Brien amassed a 100-53 record over his five seasons, before taking over at Southeastern Community College in 1996, where he led the BlackHawks to unprecendented success. During his eight seasons at SCC, O’Brien had eight winning seasons, including four 20-win seasons, and three other 30-win seasons.
In 1999-2000, the BlackHawks went 34-4 in winning their first NJCAA national championship. The following two seasons saw the BlackHawks go 25-8 and 25-10 with a Region XI Championship. In 2002-03 and 2003-04, the BlackHawks won back-to-back national titles, going 37-1 in 02-03, and 32-4 in 03-04. In his eight seasons with SCC, the BlackHawks went 213-64.
With his third title, O’Brien joined Ronnie Arrow and Allen Bradfield as the only coaches with three national titles at that level. Overall, O’Brien is one of only 11 people to have three national titles either at the JC or the NCAA level.
“I believe that Coach O’Brien brings a wealth of college coaching success with him to Idaho State University,” Bubb said. “While the winning record, national championships and personal coaching honors are all part of Coach O’Brien’s success, his demonstrated ability to recruit successful student-athletes completes the package.
“Coach O’Brien has recruited and coached high school student-athletes who have played and graduated from college and gone on to compete at Division I programs like Iowa, UConn, Washington, Florida State, Eastern Washington, Wisconsin-Green Bay and many others.”
