Aaron Fuss was announced as the third member of Lamont Paris’ inaugural staff on May 25, 2017 as an assistant coach. He brings a wealth of collegiate experience to the Mocs bench.
Fuss (pronounced Foos) spent the last nine seasons with the Ohio Bobcats. He started as the director of basketball operations (2008-09) before being elevated to assistant coach prior to the 2013 season. It was a stretch of unprecedented success in Athens.
During his tenure, the Bobcats reached the postseason six times with two NCAA Tournament appearances going 3-2 in those dance incursions. The 2010 team toppled Georgetown before falling to Tennessee during its Elite 8 run.
They made it back to the tournament in 2012 beating Michigan and South Florida prior to an overtime loss to North Carolina in the Sweet 16. He’s reunited on the Mocs staff with a key player from that run, fellow assistant Walter Offutt who earned All-East Regional Tournament team honors for his play.
The Bobcats won 20 or more games five times including a school-record 29 in 2012. They captured two MAC crowns along the way in a league that saw just five teams win the title over that stretch: Akron (3), Ohio (2), Buffalo (2), Kent State (1) and Western Michigan (1). Ohio won 60.5 percent (167-109) of its games since Fuss’ arrival in 2008.
It was an impressive run. Fuss’ contributions came under three different head coaches – John Groce (2009-12), Jim Christian (2013-14) and Saul Phillips (2015-17) – proving to be an invaluable member of the program to be kept on after not one, but two coaching changes.
He began his career at Ohio State as a student manager. Upon graduation in 2005, Thad Matta elevated Fuss to graduate manager. The Buckeyes tallied a 61-10 mark in his two seasons in that role winning the Big Ten both campaigns en route the 2007 NCAA National Championship game losing to Florida.
His role included coordinating film exchange, overseeing student managers, helping arrange team travel and managing clinics, special events and summer camps. He assisted the Buckeyes run to the title game writing advanced scouts on each opponent.
Fuss brings a young family along with him. He and his wife Jill have two children, Emma and Theodore. Both his undergraduate (Agriculture Education/Agri-Business, ’05) and graduate (Sport Management, ’07) degrees came at OSU.
THE FUSS FILE
Alma Mater: Ohio State, 2005
Student Manager, Ohio State, 2002-05
Graduate Manager, Ohio State, 2006-07
Director of Basketball Operations, Ohio, 2009-12
Assistant Coach, Ohio, 2013-17
Assistant Coach, Chattanooga, Current
