Bio

John Rhodes is in his third season as head men’s basketball coach at Ohio Northern University.

He guided the Polar Bears to back-to-back upper division finishes in the OAC and is 25-27 overall in his first two seasons at ONU.

Rhodes came to Ohio Northern after a 1-year stint as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Northeastern University and brings 13 years of coaching experience and eight years of experience playing professional basketball to the Polar Bears.

“Getting the opportunity to coach at Ohio Northern makes this the most memorable Memorial Day for my family and I,” Rhodes said. “It is a humbling experience to follow in the footsteps of such great coaches as Gale Daugherty, Joe Campoli and Jeff Coleman. I’m excited to grow the passion for ONU.

“The reputation of this school preceedes it. I started looking at ONU and it didn’t take long to figure out that this is a great place to be. We look forward to helping our young players reach their potential. We are going to play hard and have some fun.”

Northeastern finished the 2008-09 season with a 19-13 record and a third place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 12-6 mark.

Prior to his time at NU, Rhodes spent nine seasons as an assistant at his alma mater, Ohio University, from 1999-2004 before being named the associate head coach prior to the 2004-05 season.

While at Ohio, Rhodes helped lead the Bobcats to winning seasons in seven of his nine years, including four seasons in a row from 2004-08.

Ohio made the postseason twice in Rhodes’ tenure, winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament during the 2004-05 season and earning a berth to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational in 2007-08.

Rhodes’ primary responsibilities at Ohio were recruiting, scheduling, game preparation and on-court teaching. On the court, he worked specifically with post players.

In his nine seasons, Rhodes helped produce seven All-Conference forwards, including three-time first-team All-MAC selection Brandon Hunter, who was a second-round draft choice of the Boston Celtics in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Prior to joining the Bobcats, Rhodes was an assistant coach for two years at St. Bonaventure and for one season at North Florida.

Before coaching, Rhodes played professional basketball in Europe for eight years, making stops in Germany (1988-89), France (1989-91) and Iceland (1991-96).

In 1992, he was named the Icelandic Basketball League’s Most Valuable Player, and in 1993, he earned the Athlete of the Year Award from the city of Hafnarfjordur, Iceland. Rhodes also coached youth basketball clubs in Iceland and was the head coach of the I.R. Club Team in Reykjavik, Iceland, from 1994-96.

Rhodes was a four-year letterman for Ohio from 1984-88. A star center for the Bobcats, Rhodes served as team captain was named second-team All-MAC his senior year.

In the Ohio career record books, he ranks third in field goal percentage (.567), fourth in blocked shots (121), and 10th in rebounds (744).

A Milwaukee native, Rhodes graduated from Ohio in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Public Relations. He and his wife Jackie have two children, Alexis (12) and Kristopher (9).

Rhodes is only the sixth head men’s basketball coach at ONU since 1949.

Men's Basketball under Rhodes