Introduction
Scott Michael Cross (born (1974-12-03)December 3, 1974) is an American college basketball coach, currently working as the head coach at Troy University. He is the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where he played college basketball.
Coaching career
Cross, a former Maverick player and assistant coach, was the head coach at UTA for 12 seasons from 2006 to 2018. He has the most wins in UTA history and left the program as the only head coach with a career winning record. He led the program to its four best season win totals (including a program-best 27 wins in 2016–17), five post-season tournaments (prior to his arrival the program had only one post-season appearance in the prior 46 years of its history), and its first-ever post-season tournament win in 2016.Cross also coached the program's first-ever NBA Draft Pick in Kevin Hervey, who was drafted in 2018 in Round 2 of the draft as the 57th overall pick.Hervey was also named an AP Honorable Mention All-American.Cross was fired on March 26, 2018, with UTA Athletic Director Jim Baker citing a need for new leadership in the program. Which many people thought was a self move on the AD.
Cross holds many career coaching records at UT-Arlington.
A few weeks after his firing, on April 12, Cross was hired by Jamie Dixon to be an assistant coach with the TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team.While at TCU, Cross became Dixon's primary game plan strategist during the season, especially during TCU's run in the NIT Tournament.Cross would help lead the Horned Frogs to a 23–14 record and an appearance in the NIT Semifinals.
On March 26, 2019, Cross was named the new head coach of the men's basketball team at Troy University.
Career highlights
- 2008 Southland Conference Tournament Champions
- 2012 Southland Conference West Division Champions
- 2012 Southland Conference Regular Season Champions
- 2017 Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Champions
- Defeated AP-ranked #12 St. Mary's College 65–51 in 2016, which was UT-Arlington's first ever win over a Top 25 team.
- Led UT-Arlington to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008.
- Led UT-Arlington to two appearances in the NIT Tournament in 2012 and 2017.
- In 2017 NIT Tournament, UT-Arlington defeated BYU and Akron, making it to their first-ever NIT Quarterfinal.
- Won the 2015 Hoophall Miami Invitational, defeating Grambling State, Memphis, and Ohio State.
- Defeated Texas in 2016 for their first-ever win over the Longhorns.
- Defeated Oklahoma in 2017 during the Exhibition for Hurricane Harvey Recovery.
- Led UT-Arlington to a 27-9 overall record in 2017, which is the most wins in a season in UTA history.
- Coached UTA's first-ever NBA Draft Pick in Kevin Hervey, who was drafted in 2018 in Round 2 of the draft as the 57th overall pick.Hervey was also named an AP Honorable Mention All-American.
- Finished career at UT-Arlington with 9 winning seasons out of 12 years as head coach, making him the winningest coach in UTA history.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas–Arlington Mavericks (Southland Conference) | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | Texas–Arlington | 13–17 | 8–8 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2007–08 | Texas–Arlington | 21–12 | 7–9 | 7th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Texas–Arlington | 16–14 | 9–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 2009–10 | Texas–Arlington | 16–14 | 8–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2010–11 | Texas–Arlington | 13–16 | 7–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2011–12 | Texas–Arlington | 24–9 | 15–1 | 1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| Texas–Arlington Mavericks (Western Athletic Conference) | |||||||||
| 2012–13 | Texas–Arlington | 19–14 | 11–7 | 4th | CIT First Round | ||||
| Texas–Arlington Mavericks (Sun Belt Conference) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | Texas–Arlington | 15–17 | 9–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Texas–Arlington | 16–15 | 10–10 | 5th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Texas–Arlington | 24–11 | 13–7 | 3rd | CIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2016–17 | Texas–Arlington | 27–9 | 14–4 | 1st | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2017–18 | Texas–Arlington | 21–13 | 10–8 | 4th | |||||
| UT-Arlington: | 225–161 (.583) | 121–87 (.582) | |||||||
| Troy Trojans (Sun Belt Conference) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Troy | 9–22 | 5–15 | T–11th | |||||
| Troy: | 9–22 (.290) | 5–15 (.250) | |||||||
| Total: | 234–183 (.561) | ||||||||
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Personal life
Scott Cross is married to Jennifer Cross and has three children: Austin, Cody, and Tyler