Stephen Ott enters his second season as an assistant coach on the FIU men’s basketball staff in 2014-15.
Ott was part of a first-year staff at FIU in 2013-14 that led the Panthers to a 15-win season, including a 72-61 victory over cross-state rival and 2012 Sweet Sixteen squad Florida Gulf Coast. Additionally, the Panthers earned seven Conference USA wins in its inaugural season in the conference, and Tymell Murphy was selected to the All-Conference Second Team.
Ott came to FIU after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Lehigh University from 2011 to 2013. During his tenure with the Mountain Hawks, Lehigh went 47-18 and registered back-to-back post-season appearances (NCAA in 2011-12 and CBI in 2012-13). During the 2011-12 season, Lehigh won the Patriot League Tournament Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after stunning the No. 2-seeded Duke Blue Devils for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
At Lehigh, Ott coached one of the most decorated players in the country at the time in C.J. McCollum. The 2011-12 Patriot League Player of the Year and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American, McCollum was selected 10th overall by the Portland Trailblazers in the 2013 NBA Draft.
Prior to his time at Lehigh, Ott spent two separate stints at Siena College where he served as an assistant coach during the 2010-2011 season and the director of basketball operations from 2006 to 2008. As the director of basketball operations with the Saints in 2007-08, Ott helped the program to the MAAC Tournament Championship and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after upsetting Vanderbilt in the first round. As an assistant coach in 2010-11, Ott coached the nation’s second leading rebounder and MAAC Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter.
Due to his leadership ability and relationship building skills, Ott went onto a prestigious position as the Director of Team Events at the Hoop Group. His time there resulted in Team Events having the largest number of participating teams (over 1,000 AAU Teams) and an increase in talent level. He organized a variety of events run annually by the Hoop Group, including; The Philly Hoop Group Classic, three national High School Showcases (providing the premier stages for top high school talent in the nation), and the Hoop Group Jam Fests (various AAU showcase for rising scholastic stars).
A 2005 graduate of the State University of New York at New Paltz, Ott was a four-year starter and two-year captain for the men’s basketball team. Ott began his coaching career as the head assistant coach at Ulster County Community College in 2005-06. That season, Ulster increased its win total by 10 games, including defeating the top-ranked team in the country at the time.
