Owens out as Miami men’s basketball coach

Miami University's head coach Jack Owens cheers on his team during their basketball game against University of Cincinnati Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 at Millett Hall. JN FILE PHOTO

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Miami University's head coach Jack Owens cheers on his team during their basketball game against University of Cincinnati Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 at Millett Hall. JN FILE PHOTO

Miami University was looking for a new men’s basketball coach Wednesday morning after announcing that the program and five-year coach Jack Owens had, according to a press release, “mutually agreed to part ways.”

Owens, hired in 2017 to replace John Cooper, was 70-83 overall and 37-54 in the Mid-American Conference in his first head coaching job after spending nine seasons as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Purdue.

“I want to thank Jack Owens for his tremendous effort and work ethic in leading Miami basketball,” Miami director of athletics David Sayler said in the press release. “We all have a great amount of respect for Jack, who he is, how he conducts himself and how he ran the program. Jack’s leadership throughout the pandemic was always centered on student-athlete well-being and he accomplished a lot in challenging times. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

The RedHawks reached the College Basketball Invitational in Owens’ first season, but they finished with a winning record just once, going 12-11 overall and 9-8 in the MAC during the 2020-2021 season.