USD athletic director Kimya Massey started his basketball head coaching search early with the intent of finishing it early, and he delivered on that promise.
The next Toreros coach will be JR Blount, a respected 38-year-old assistant from No. 6-ranked Iowa State. USD announced the hire Monday afternoon, but Blount will stay with the Cyclones through the remainder of their season.
He replaces Steve Lavin, who was fired Feb. 18 but allowed to finish the season. That ended Friday night at the West Coast Tournament in Las Vegas, and Massey stayed behind to interview his pool of finalists in what he called a “thorough and highly competitive national search.”
That finished Sunday night. By Monday morning, Massey had his man before most teams have finished their seasons.
“I come to USD with a deep desire to win — to compete relentlessly, to develop our young men to their fullest potential and to build a program our fans can be proud of,” Blount said in the university release announcing his hire. “Winning championships is important, but so is building a culture of toughness, accountability and love. We’re going to work every day to represent USD the right way, on and off the court.
“I’m ready to get started.”
Blount spent three years at Colorado State before joining TJ Otzelberger’s staff at Iowa State in 2021. In five seasons there, the Cyclones have gone 120-51 and twice reached the Sweet 16. In the last three, they’ve won 29, 25 and 25 (so far) games and been eighth, 11th and seventh nationally in the Kenpom metric.
“I like to be the first one in here, pretty early every day, and he almost always beats me,” Otzelberger told CBS Sports recently. “I’ve never had an assistant with his level of work ethic.”
Massey is known to have considered sitting head coaches in Southern California like Cal State Northridge’s Andy Newman and Cal Baptist’s Rick Croy as well as USD alum and NBA coaching veteran David Fizdale. But much of his attention focused on young assistants at high-major programs like Kansas, Duke, Florida, Michigan and Iowa State — all of them currently ranked in The Associated Press top 10.
That can be deceiving, because it’s not always apples to apples. Some assistants are focused on recruiting with little on-court duties while others are given more tactical responsibility.
Blount definitely falls into the latter category. Otzelberger, like San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher, is known to let his assistants run practice and have major strategic input, and Blount was tasked with the defense — specifically ball screen coverages that are so vital in today’s game — as well as player development.
In each of his five years there, the Cyclones ranked in the top 15 nationally in overall Kenpom defensive efficiency. In 2023-24, they were No. 1 at 87.5 points per 100 possessions — or nearly 20 points lower than the national average.
“JR is an outstanding leader, a relentless competitor and one of the brightest rising coaches in college basketball,” Massey said in the university release. “JR has been a part of winning at every level of his career and understands what it takes to build a program that competes with toughness, discipline and consistency.”
He’ll have his hands full at USD, which hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2008 and has had only one winning record in the last seven seasons. Lavin went 47-84 in his four years, and the Toreros were No. 344, 204, 256 and 254 nationally in defensive efficiency.
In two of Lavin’s four seasons, they ranked in the bottom 10 in Division I in defensive 3-point percentage.
Blount grew up in Wisconsin, receiving a Catholic education in high school and then college at Loyola (Chicago), where he averaged 13.5 points over his four-year career and was three-time team captain. He was a graduate assistant at Wisconsin-Stevens Point when the Pointers won the 2010 Division III national title, followed by three years at Division II Saint Leo University in Florida and four at Drake.
From there, he followed head coach Niko Medved to Colorado State for three seasons. Then Otzelberger hired him when he left UNLV for Iowa State.
Blount will be USD’s eighth head coach since the basketball program went Division I in 1979 but the fifth in the last 13 seasons.
“This is a pivotal moment for our program,” Massey said, “and JR’s vision aligns with our belief that San Diego men’s basketball should compete in the upper tier of the WCC and position itself to be a regular NCAA Tournament participant. We are excited about what lies ahead under his leadership.”