Wright State head coach Scott Nagy has been hired as the next head coach for the SIU Salukis, the university announced on Thursday afternoon.

It was first reported on Thursday morning by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello that Nagy would be coming to Carbondale. Nagy will be introduced to the public in an event on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Charles Helleny Pavilion inside the Banterra Center.

Nagy, a native of Champaign, Illinois, has accumulated a record of 577-331 in 30 years as head coach at Wright State and South Dakota State. He earned Horizon League Coach of the Year honors three years in a row from 2018-20.

Nagy becomes the 15th head coach in program history, succeeding former head coach Bryan Mullins after five seasons with the Salukis. Southern Illinois has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2007, or an NIT since 2008.

Since taking over the South Dakota State program in 1995, Nagy led the Jackrabbits through their transition from Division II to Division I in 2007. The program steadily improved up to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012, followed by two more in the next four years.

After being hired to Wright State, Nagy racked up a record of 167-91 in eight seasons with the Raiders, with a winning record every season. The team has made the NCAA Tournament twice in 2018 and 2022, and won the Horizon League regular season championship three times.

Recently, Wright State has experienced a slight step back from its most successful run under Nagy, with records of 18-15 and 18-13 in the past two seasons. The Raiders were defeated in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament this season.

Prior to becoming a head coach, Nagy served as a graduate assistant at Illinois under Lou Henson, and an assistant coach at South Dakota State and SIU Edwardsville. He also played four years at Delta State, and holds records for games played and assists.

Nagy’s father, Dick Nagy, served as an assistant coach under Henson for 17 seasons at Illinois.

Managing editor Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @BrandynWilcoxen. To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

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