Utah State University Athletics

Ben Jacobson, one of the most successful head coaches of the past two decades, was named the 23rd men’s basketball head coach at Utah State on March 30, 2026.

Jacobson is one of the most respected and consistent winners in college basketball, bringing a track record of sustained success, player development and championship culture to Utah State. He comes to Logan after a successful 20-year tenure at the University of Northern Iowa, where he built a dominant program. His teams earned multiple top-25 rankings, posted NCAA Tournament wins over top-seeded opponents and achieved strong academic and on-court success.

Jacobson posted a 397-259 (.605) record in 20 seasons at UNI, finishing his time in Cedar Falls as the program's all-time wins leader and averaging 19.8 wins per season. He guided the Panthers to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2026, and four tournament victories.

During that span, he led UNI to the Sweet 16 in 2010 with wins over UNLV and No. 1-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Panthers tallied their third NCAA Tournament victory under Jacobson in 2015, defeating Wyoming, before a thrilling half-court buzzer-beater against Texas in the 2016 tournament. In total, 10 of his teams made the postseason, playing in the NCAA Tournament five times, the NIT three times and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament twice.

He is the league's all-time leader in conference wins with 220 and conference tournament wins with 24. He ranked second in Missouri Valley Conference history in overall wins and was the only coach in league history to record wins over two different No. 1-ranked teams (Kansas in 2010 and North Carolina in 2015). In 2024, he earned his 188th conference victory, surpassing legendary coach Henry P. Iba to become the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time leader in conference wins. 

He was a five-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, becoming the first coach in MVC history to earn the honor five times (2009, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2022).

Jacobson's tenure at UNI was highlighted by multiple historic seasons, including nine conference or tournament championships, deep postseason runs and top-25 national rankings, as his teams consistently competed at a high level.

Under his tutelage, three players earned the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year award four times, while more than 30 players received all-MVC honors, highlighted by 11 first-team selections. UNI also had 12 players named to the MVC all-newcomer or all-freshman teams, with three earning freshmen of the year honors. Off the court, four players combined for five MVC scholar-athlete of the year awards.

During his tenure in Cedar Falls as both a head coach and an assistant, Jacobson helped develop nearly two dozen players who went on to play professionally.

In his final season at UNI in 2025-26, Jacobson led the Panthers to a 23-13 overall record, a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. His squad led the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 6.18 points per game. They ranked third nationally in 3-point defense at 28.7 percent, and were also in the top-55 in the country in assist/turnover ratio, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, fouls per game, scoring margin, turnover margin and turnovers per game.

In 2021-22, Jacobson guided UNI to an outright MVC regular season championship with a 14-4 league record. After starting the season 4-7, the Panthers went on to win 16 of their next 21 games led by guard AJ Green, who earned MVC Player of the Year honors for the second time in three seasons, while Jacobson was named the league’s coach of the year.

The Panthers won the Missouri Valley regular season title in 2019-20 with a stellar 25-6 overall record, including a perfect 16-0 record at home. They were projected to be in the NCAA Tournament field before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. The team posted nonconference wins over South Carolina, Colorado and Grand Canyon that season.

The 2015-16 season saw Northern Iowa pick up wins over No. 1 North Carolina, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 25 Wichita State. The Panthers opened the year 10-11 overall and 2-6 in league play, but then rattled off wins in 13 of their next 14 games to capture the MVC Tournament title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Texas in the opening round before falling in double overtime to Texas A&M, 92-88. 

In 2014-15, the Panthers compiled a 31-4 record, including a school-record 16-game winning streak, a Missouri Valley Conference tournament title, and the program’s first top-10 national ranking. UNI earned its third NCAA Tournament win under Jacobson and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, with forward Seth Tuttle earning second-team All-America honors.

Earlier, the 2009-10 season was historic for the Panthers, who posted a 30-5 record and finished ranked No. 13 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll. UNI ranked second nationally in scoring defense (55.1 points per game) and 10th in fewest turnovers (10.7 per game). The Panthers eclipsed the previous school record for wins by seven games, and earned the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance by knocking off the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament’s second round.

UNI, led by Jacobson, became the first college program ever selected to represent Team USA at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, finishing the tournament 5-1 with victories over Angola, Turkey, China, Finland and Israel. The Panthers’ only loss came to eventual gold medalist Lithuania.

Before earning his first head coaching role at UNI, he was hired as the top assistant in 2001, helping turn around the program before taking the reins as head coach in 2006. Jacobson began coaching at the University of North Dakota in 1993-94, then spent two years as a graduate assistant and four as a full-time assistant before joining Greg McDermott at North Dakota State in 2000-01.

As a player, Jacobson starred at North Dakota from 1989-93, finishing as the program's all-time assist leader. UND made two Elite Eight appearances, four regional appearances and won two conference championships. He earned NCC all-academic honors in 1993 and hall of fame recognition as a member of the 1989-90 team.

A Mayville, North Dakota, native, Jacobson graduated from Mayville-Portland High School in 1989 as valedictorian. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of North Dakota in 1994.

Jacobson and his wife, Dawn, have two children, Hunter and Tanner. Hunter played for his father at UNI and was a redshirt junior in 2025-26.