Add Jerod Haase’s name to the list of mid-major head coaches who have successfully made the leap to a power conference.
Stanford University officially announced on Friday the hiring of Haase as the new head coach of their basketball program. Haase had previously coached the UAB Blazers for the last four seasons, compiling a record of 80-53.
The 41-year-old Haase guided the Blazers to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2015 where they upset the heavily-favored Iowa State Cyclones in the first round. Haase followed that performance up by leading UAB to a 26-7 record and a Conference USA regular-season title in 2015-16.
Haase replaces Johnny Dawkins, who was fired by the Cardinals after eight seasons on the heels of a ninth-place finish in the Pac-12 and a second consecutive failure to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
A former assistant coach under Roy Williams at both Kansas and North Carolina, Haase turned UAB into a top-50 team in the nation in terms of offensive efficiency this season (per Team Rankings) and should inject some life into a sputtering program at Stanford.
Image Credit: Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports
H/T theScore
