Head Coach Geno Ford Inducted into Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame

Men’s Basketball head coach Geno Ford adds another prestigious honor to his already lengthy resume as Ohio’s “Mr. Basketball” will be enshrined into another Hall of Fame.
 
Ford is entering his fifth year at the helm of the Seawolves and 15^th year as a collegiate men’s basketball head coach. Prior to his coaching career, Ford made a name for himself on the court. This reputation has led him to be a 2023 inductee into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
“I’m very appreciative of being included in this year’s Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame Class. Ohio has a deep history of talented players and coaches, so it is an unbelievable honor to be included.  Both my high school coaches as well as my college coach are already inducted so I was very fortunate to play for two great coaches,” said head coach Geno Ford.
 
While playing for his father, the renowned coach Gene Ford who was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, at Cambridge High School in eastern Ohio, Ford registered an impressive 2,680 career points. To this day, that total stands as the fourth highest in Ohio’s rich basketball history, surpassing basketball icons such as LeBron James, Jerry Lucas, and Bob Huggins. Ford ranks second in the state’s record books, only behind Luke Kennard, for both single-season and career free throws made, tallying 288 and 697 free throws made, respectively.
 
In 1993, Ford’s exceptional performance on the court earned him the prestigious honor of being named Ohio’s “Mr. Basketball,” solidifying his status as one of the state’s standout players. He continued his basketball journey at Ohio University, starting in 113 out of 123 games for the Bobcats. In his final two seasons, he led the team in scoring, contributing a total of 1,752 points during his collegiate career. Ford maintained an impressive scoring average of 14.2 points per game, displaying his accuracy with a 79.6 percent success rate from the free-throw line and shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. Following a season with the Leicester Riders in the British Basketball League, he returned to the United States to embark on his coaching career.
 
Ford’s coaching journey has taken him to various institutions, starting as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Ohio University, as well as Kent State and Stony Brook. He then assumed head coaching positions at Shawnee State, Muskingum, and Kent State, accumulating valuable experience and success along the way. For four years, he served as the head coach at Bradley University before taking charge of the men’s basketball program at Stony Brook, where he has been making a significant impact for the past five years.
 
His coaching and leadership earned him the title of Mid-American Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011 while at Kent State, both accolades coinciding with the Golden Flashes’ conference championship victories. Following in his father’s esteemed footsteps, Ford boasts an impressive overall winning record and has surpassed the 200-victory milestone as a head coach.
 
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the sport, Ford was inducted into the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2004 and enshrined in the Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. Now, he adds another prestigious honor to his list of achievements as he enters the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, a well-deserved tribute to his remarkable career and lasting impact on the game he loves.
 
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Read the full story at stonybrookathletics.com.