Washburn men’s basketball head coach Brett Ballard enters his ninth season on the Ichabod bench after guiding Washburn to NCAA postseason tournament appearances in five of his first eight seasons on the bench compiling a 167-79 (.679) mark overall going 114-50 (.695) in MIAA play as well as a stellar 92-19 (.923) record at home.
The 2024-25 Ichabod season was one for the record books as the Ichabods were led by Ballard to a 30-4 overall record going 17-2 in MIAA winning their first MIAA regular season crown since the 2011-12 season, as well as an appearance in the NCAA Final Four while making their first NCAA Elite Eight showing since the 2000-01 season. The 30 wins were the second-highest total in school history. As part of the regular season success, the Ichabods also hosted the NCAA Central Regional for the first time since the 2000-01 season and played in front of three sell-out crowds punching their ticket to Evansville, Indiana with a 93-65 win over the second-seeded MSU Moorhead Dragon team. The Ichabods’ average margin of victory was 24 points during the regional run and more than 19 points during the regular season. Ballard went to earn NABC District Coach of the Year honors as well as being named the MIAA Coach of the Year and the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association 4-year Coach of the Year. The Ichabods had two players earn NABC All-District Honors with Jacob Hanna earning first team and Jack Bachelor picking up second-team honors. Hanna and Bachelor were both named first-team all-MIAA as well as being selected for the region all-tournament team with Hanna taking Most Outstanding Player honors. Hanna was also selected as the MIAA’s Newcomer of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year and Michael Keegan was named to the MIAA all-defensive team. Brayden Shorter was named second-team all-MIAA and Andrew Orr was named third team.
In seven seasons, the Ichabods have reached the MIAA Tournament Championship game in four of the last seven seasons winning the 2021 MIAA Tournament championship. Ballard’s 137 wins is the most recorded by an Ichabod coach in program history after their first seven seasons on the Washburn bench.
In his seven seasons, Ballard has coached 21 all-MIAA performers, had five players receive 10 different all-region awards, three MIAA Defensive Player of the Year selections, an MIAA Freshman and MIAA Newcomer of the Year, and six all-MIAA Defensive team picks as well as two Ichabods (Brady Skeens and Tyler Geiman) who have received three different All-American awards.
During a COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season, in addition to leading the Ichabods to the conference tournament championship, the Ichabods reached the second round of the NCAA Central Regional.
In his second season at Washburn, Ballard helped guide the Ichabods to a second-straight NCAA appearance coaching Javion Blake, a first team all-MIAA selection and a two-time all-region selection as well as David Salach and Tyler Geiman who were both named honorable mention all-MIAA. Salach was also an all-MIAA Defensive team selection.
In year one, Ballard mentored Brady Skeens who wrapped up his Ichabod career with two All-American honors, a three-time MIAA Defensive Player of the Year honoree first team all-MIAA honors as well as All-Defensive team honors and Javion Blake who was an honorable mention all-MIAA selection. Both were also named to the MIAA All-Tournament team.
In the classroom, Ballard has coached a Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American, a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District, two MIAA Scholar Athletes and 51 MIAA Academic Honor Roll selections.
Ballard was named the Washburn Ichabod men’s basketball head coach on April 6, 2017 after spending the 2014-15 to 2016-17 seasons as an assistant coach with the Wake Forest basketball program after working under head coach Danny Manning for the last five combined seasons overall including two seasons at the University of Tulsa.
After the 2016-17 season, Ballard helped Wake Forest to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season. Prior to joining the staff at Wake Forest, Ballard was instrumental to the Golden Hurricane winning the 2013-14 Conference USA regular season and tournament championships--the program’s first league title since 2003.
Tulsa went 38-29 overall and 21-11 in C-USA play during Ballard’s two seasons on staff. The Golden Hurricane played in the postseason both years, including earning a No. 13 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Tulsa also participated in the 2013 CBI, finishing that season with a winning record of 17-16 overall.
The Golden Hurricane went 21-13 overall and 13-3 in C-USA in 2013-14, earning a share of the 2013-14 regular season title, its first since winning the WAC in 2002. Tulsa captured the C-USA tournament title over Louisiana Tech, securing its first NCAA Tournament berth in 11 seasons. Tulsa earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell 76-59 to No. 4 seed UCLA in the second round.
Before joining Manning at Tulsa, Ballard spent two seasons as the head basketball coach at Baker University.
In two seasons at Baker, Ballard went 33-30 overall, including a 21-12 mark in his final season at the helm in 2011-12. The Wildcats advanced to the school’s first Heart of America Athletic Conference championship game in 15 years in 2012 and capped that with an NAIA national tournament berth, the program’s first since 1996.
Prior to taking over the head coaching position at Baker, Ballard spent seven years on Bill Self’s staff at the University of Kansas, his alma mater. He was the director of basketball operations for his final two seasons on staff, and prior to that, he served as the administrative assistant/video coordinator for four years and a volunteer student assistant for one year.
Ballard oversaw the academic progress of the Jayhawks, worked closely with the off-season strength and conditioning program and assisted with on-campus recruiting, team travel and team video. Ballard was also the camp director for the Bill Self Basketball Camps. Ballard organized and directed over 2,500 campers and also coordinated and directed the Coaches Clinic, the Winter Clinic and the Wilt Chamberlain Special Olympics Clinic while at KU.
Kansas basketball was highly successful during Ballard’s time on the Jayhawks staff. Kansas won the 2008 national championship, advanced to three NCAA Tournament Elite Eights, won or tied for the Big 12 regular season championship four times and claimed three conference tournaments. During his coaching career, Ballard has worked with 35 student-athletes who have gone on to play professional basketball.
Ballard played two years for the Jayhawks under head coach Roy Williams from 2000-02 after transferring from Hutchinson Community College in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kan. Ballard, a guard, played in 56 career games, scoring 59 points and dishing out 32 assists. KU went a combined 59-11 (.843) in his two seasons as a Jayhawk, including a 2001 NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance and a berth in the 2002 NCAA Final Four in Atlanta.
Ballard earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Kansas in 2003. He was named an Academic All-Big 12 selection as a senior for his efforts in the classroom.
Ballard and his wife, Kelly, have three children -- sons Kaden, a freshman on the Ichabod basketball team, and Brooks and daughter Breagan.
