The Ball State men’s basketball team has added associate head coach Scott Combs, head coach Michael Lewis announced Thursday.

“I’m extremely pleased to announce Scott Combs as our associate head coach here with our Cardinals basketball program,” Lewis said. “Scott brings with him a wealth of basketball knowledge, coaching success, head coaching success, and most importantly a vast network of contacts as we continue to navigate this new era of college basketball. Please help me in welcoming Scott, his wife Ashley, daughter Chandler and son Lou to Muncie.”

Combs comes to Ball State from James Madison, where he helped lead the Dukes to a 20-12 record last season, including 13-5 in the Sun Belt for a share of the SBC regular season championship. Prior to his time in Harrisonburg, Va., Combs had extended stays at Morehead State, Martin Methodist College and Austin Peay.

The 1994 runner-up for Indiana Mr. Basketball out of Paoli High School, Combs finished with the 31^st-most career points in state history at 1,958. Combs went on to play his first two collegiate seasons at Missouri from 1994 to 1996 before finishing his career at Austin Peay (1997-99).

“Born and raised in the Hoosier State, basketball is in my blood, and I’m excited to come back home to build something special here at Ball State with Coach Lewis,” Combs said. “As the saying goes, ‘In 49 states it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.'”

Combs followed head coach Preston Spradlin to James Madison from Morehead State where the two worked together for six seasons. Overall, in his seven seasons coaching with Spradlin, Combs’ teams won 140 games and four championships.

Martin Methodist was the second school Combs coached at, as he was the head coach and associate athletic director there from 2012 to 2018. At the NAIA school in southern Tennessee, Combs accumulated a 124-65 record, a win over Middle Tennessee State and a Coach of the Year honor in the TranSouth Athletic Conference in his first season on the job.

Combs began his coaching career at Austin Peay in 1999, where he was a part of six teams that won 20-plus games and five Ohio Valley Conference championships. The 2002-03 and 2007-08 teams made it to the NCAA Tournament.

2025-Present – Ball State (associate head coach)
2024-25 – James Madison (associate head coach)
2018-24 – Morehead State (assistant/associate head coach)
2012-18 – Martin Methodist College (head coach/associate athletic director)
1999-2012 – Austin Peay (assistant/associate head coach/assistant athletic director)

https://ballstatesports.com/news/2025/6/19/mens-basketball-hires-scott-combs-as-associate-head-coach