Ball State 11th-year head women’s basketball coach Brady Sallee has brought back another former Ball State basketball player – this time from the men’s basketball program – as he has announced the hiring of former Cardinal standout guard Jauwan Scaife as his new assistant women’s basketball coach.
Scaife replaces former women’s basketball assistant coach Bri Kulas who will be getting married this summer and is stepping away from the profession.
A native of Muncie, Scaife returns to his alma mater after spending two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Utah State women’s basketball team.
“I’m ecstatic to be able to bring Jauwan back to Ball State,” Sallee said. “He brings the perfect combination of character, work ethic and experience that I was looking for in this hire. Jauwan was eager to get back to Ball State where he enjoyed so much success as a player, and I look forward to watching him find that same level of success as a part of our coaching staff.”
In his lone season at Utah State, Scaife helped lead the Aggies to an 11-19 overall record, including a 5-13 mark in Mountain West play, in the 2021-22 season, nearly tripling the previous season’s win total. Utah State finished the season ranked third in offensive rebounds per game (12.43) and fourth in assists per game (14.20).
Prior to Utah State, Scaife had a similar role at Murray State from 2018 to 2020, where he had key roles in player development, recruiting, offensive schemes and game plans and assisted with in-game adjustments. During the 2018-19 season, Scaife helped the Racers to nine conference victories, the most by Murray State since the 2008-09 season. Scaife also helped Evelyn Adebayo and Macey Turley earn All-Ohio Valley Conference honors. Adebayo went on to play as a graduate transfer for Connecticut.
Before his time at Murray State, Scaife spent the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Evansville, where he worked primarily with perimeter players. Scaife helped Kerri Gasper earn honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades.
Scaife was also an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri for two seasons under former Ball State associate head women’s basketball coach Rekha Patterson. He joined Patterson after he completed his master’s degree in physical education from Ball State in 2013 while also holding the role of graduate assistant for two years with the Cardinals.
At Southeast Missouri State, he helped the Redhawks advance to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time in seven seasons during the 2015-16 campaign. One of his players, Brianna Mitchell, was named to the All-OVC team during his time at Southeast Missouri.
Scaife is no stranger to Muncie or Ball State University. Scaife was a four-year letterwinner from 2009-2013 for the Cardinals, where he was a Second-Team All-MAC selection as a senior in 2012-13 and a MAC All-Freshman Team choice in 2009-10.
Scaife finished his career 14th in program history with 1,326 career points and became the 26th 1,000-point scorer in Ball State history. He finished with 203 career 3-pointers, breaking the school record in the final game of his career. Scaife also broke the school record with 579 career 3-point attempts. He ended his career ranked seventh in program history in career minutes played (3,368), tied for seventh in games played (120) and ninth in games started (93). Scaife also wrapped up his career ranked 11th in career free throws made (317), 13th in free throw percentage (.783) and 15th in free throw attempts (405).
Prior to Ball State, Scaife was a three-year letterwinner at Muncie Central High School. Scaife is also the cousin of former Ball State and NBA standout Bonzi Wells.
Scaife will now be the third former Ball State basketball player on Sallee’s staff, joining former Cardinal standouts Audrey Spencer (associate head coach) and Moriah Monaco (assistant coach).
