Former Ohio State men’s team player Ben Spurlock will return to the program as a women’s assistant, the school announced on Thursday. Spurlock played for the Buckeyes from 2005-2009, where he was a part of 3 MIVA regular season and 3 MIVA Tournament titles. The team made NCAA semifinal appearances in 3 of his 5 seasons – 2005, 2008, and 2009 – and he was named to the All-MIVA Second Team as a junior. He racked up 397 kills and a career .438 hitting percentage in 69 matches with the program as a player.
He’s been coaching for 8 years, since he graduated from Ohio State, including the last 6 as an assistant coach for Division I Saint Louis University. During that time, he led the program’s recruiting coordination, which included signing 2 state Gatorade Player of the Year nominees and the 2013 A10 Rookie of the Year.
His on-court responsibilities focused mainly on defenders and blocking, while off the court he scouted opponents and handled day-to-day operations of the program. In 2016, St. Louis finished 18-14, including 11-3 in the Atlantic 10 – leaving them 3rd in the conference. Senior Danielle Rygelski led the country in both total kills and kills/set with 715 and 6.01, respectively.
“We are excited to bring this Buckeye back home to be with our program,” Carlston said. “Ben brings a great mix of enthusiasm and knowledge to our staff as well as appreciation for all our university has to offer.”
Before Saint Louis, he was an assistant with Northwood University in Midland, Michigan for 2 years.
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