TicketsCINCINNATI — Jerrod Calhoun, Cincinnati men’s basketball head coach, announced Tuesday the addition of six members to his first coaching staff at the helm of the Bearcats. Mantoris Robinson has been named associate head coach, Ben Asher, Johnny Hill, Max Bent and Curran Walsh will serve as assistant coaches and Paul Molinari will assume the role of chief of staff.
All six were part of Calhoun’s 2025-26 Utah State staff which guided the Aggies to the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships. In Calhoun’s two years in Logan, Utah State went 55-15, including a 30-10 mark in Mountain West play, with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, and five Aggies were named All-Mountain West selections, including 2026 Mountain West Player of the Year Mason Falslev.
“Part of being a successful head coach is having assistant coaches and staff members who understand your day to day,” Calhoun said. “No person is bigger than the program. All six of these guys coming to the University of Cincinnati have experienced high levels of success. They know what success looks like on a daily basis, whether it’s with our players, in the office or in the community. I look forward to continuing a great journey with this group of guys.”
Robinson joins the staff after spending two seasons with Calhoun at Utah State and two more with him at Youngstown State. Prior to his time at Youngstown State, Robinson spent a year as an assistant at East Tennessee State, three at Charleston and four at Appalachian State, in addition to serving under Calhoun from 2012-14 at Fairmont State. A native of Charlotte, N.C., Robinson graduated from Winthrop in 2010 with a degree in business and earned a master’s degree in business administration at Fairmont State in 2014.
“Manny brings a ton of experience to the University of Cincinnati,” Calhoun said. “He will be our associate head coach. He has a tremendous motor and is an excellent recruiter, along with being a great offensive and defensive coach. Manny was part of my original staff in coaching and has expanded his horizons around the country. He’s done a tremendous job growing and learning in the field.”
Like Robinson, Asher has spent significant time on Calhoun’s staff in the past, including the last two years at Utah State and the previous three at Youngstown State. Prior to that, Asher was on staff at Rutgers for five seasons, one at Siena and two as a graduate assistant at North Carolina State. Prior to arriving in Raleigh, Asher worked as the head student manager at West Virginia, where he earned a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree in 2013. Under head coach Bob Huggins, the Mountaineers won the Big East Tournament Championship and advanced to the Final Four in 2010, while also earning NCAA Tournament berths in 2011 and 2012.
“Ben Asher will work on the offensive side of the ball, where he will focus on game-planning and offensive concepts,” Calhoun said. “He’ll also be in charge of scheduling. Ben has a great motor, is very well-rounded and will be a significant part of our staff.”
Hill comes to Clifton after one year with Calhoun at Utah State and another under Danny Sprinkle at Utah State, sandwiched around one year as an assistant at UIC. Prior to his first stint in Logan, Hill worked with Sprinkle at Montana State and served three seasons on staff at Grand Canyon. Hill began his collegiate playing career at Illinois State, earning the team's Most Improved Player award. He then played two seasons at Texas Arlington, where he was named a team captain and started for the Mavericks and completed his career at Purdue, starting 11 games for a Boilermaker team that was nationally ranked throughout the year. He helped the team earn a five seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Hill made the academic honor roll at both Texas Arlington and Purdue. He earned his bachelor's degree in communication from Texas Arlington before obtaining a master's degree in leadership and technology innovation from Purdue.
“Johnny has a tremendous pedigree, playing college ball for Matt Painter at Purdue,” Calhoun stated. “He will be our defensive coordinator, locking in on that side of the ball. Johnny will focus on defense but is really, really good in all aspects of coaching.”
Bent spent the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach for the Aggies after one year as the program’s director of video and analytics. Before his time in Logan, Bent was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Charleston after three seasons as director of basketball operations at Denver and another prior stop for a season at the University of Charleston. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native’s first stop was as a graduate assistant at Detroit Mercy after graduating from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2017.
“Max will be working primarily on the offensive side of the basketball,” Calhoun said. “He’s a John Beilein disciple. What sets Max apart is he is tremendous with analytics and truly an up-and-coming basketball mind.”
Walsh was Utah State’s director of player personnel and analytics a year ago, after also serving as the program’s director of player development from 2019-21. He was an assistant coach at Denver in 2024-25 and also was on staff at Loyola Marymount from 2017-19. During the 2016-17 season, Walsh was an assistant coach for the boy's basketball team at St. Anthony High School, culminating in a 30-5 record and an IHSA State Championship. A native of Effingham, Ill., Walsh played basketball at Lindenwood University-Belleville all four years before graduating with a degree in business administration in 2016. During his time with the Lynx, he earned academic all-conference honors in his final two seasons. He went on to complete his master's degree in educational studies at LMU.
“Curran is a guy who has really come up the ranks in the last several years,” Calhoun said. “He will be a personnel coach, diving into not only our personnel, but that of the opponent, and will be a key part of our staff.”
Molinari, who is a coaching veteran with more than 30 years of experience at the Division I and II levels, served the last two years as chief of staff at Utah State after a seven-year stint as an assistant at Youngstown State. Prior to his time with the Penguins, Molinari was an associate head coach on Calhoun’s staff at Fairmont State for five seasons, along with nine years at Winthrop, seven at Cleveland State, two at Wichita State, and two more as a video coordinator at UNLV. Molinari was a four-year student manager while earning a degree in operations management from Villanova in 1990 before serving a year as a graduate assistant at Kent State and another at Villanova.
“Paul is the chief of staff and will do a multitude of things for the program,” Calhoun stated. “He adds tremendous value and familiarity after working on my staffs for many years. A former college coach, he’ll handle team travel and logistics day to day.”
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