Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips has announced the hiring of Todd Okeson as the associate head coach on his men’s basketball staff at Utah Valley. Okeson has spent the last four seasons at UVU as an assistant coach.
“Todd has been an integral part of the success here at Utah Valley the last four years,” said Phillips. “It was a no brainer to move him up to associate head coach. Todd checks all the boxes of a big-time coach. He’s a great recruiter, is tremendous teaching X’s and O’s, and he’s proven he can develop players. Can’t be more excited to have coach Okeson by my side.”
During his time at UVU, Okeson has helped the team to two Western Athletic Conference regular season championships (2020-21, 2022-23) and an impressive 70-51 record, including 48 wins over the last two seasons.
Okeson helped the Wolverines to their most successful season in program history this past year as the team went 28-9 overall and 15-3 in WAC play. The 28 wins are the most wins ever recorded in a single season. Utah Valley also finished the season with a nation-best 12 road wins. Okeson helped UVU to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with wins at New Mexico, at Colorado, and against Cincinnati at home in the quarterfinals. UVU finished the 2022-23 season with a No. 10 ranking in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll and its best-ever end-of-season rankings in the NCAA NET rankings (58) and on KenPom.com (64).
His work with Utah Valley’s guards has reaped tremendous benefits as Okeson’s backcourt players earned numerous accolades in 2022-23. Trey Woodbury and Le’Tre Darthard each earned both First Team All-WAC honors and All-District honors. Darthard also earned WAC All-Defensive team honors.
Okeson helped guide Utah Valley to a 20-win season in 2021-22 as the team finished with a 20-12 record for the first time since 2019. Okeson also helped the Wolverines to a history-making 2020-21 season. After returning just two players, welcoming 16 newcomers, and being picked seventh in the WAC preseason polls, Utah Valley finished atop the league standings and won the WAC regular season title.
Okeson joined the Wolverines in 2019 after serving on the basketball staff at the University of Nevada where he was the assistant director of basketball operations for the Wolf Pack. He helped Nevada to a third straight Mountain West Conference regular season title and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Wolf Pack wrapped up the 2018-19 season with a 29-5 overall record and an impressive 15-3 mark in MWC play. While at Nevada, Okeson worked with JaVale McGee who was selected by the Washington Wizards in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft with the 18th overall pick.
Find the full Press Release at GoUVU.com
