The University of Missouri-Rolla has filled its vacancy within the men’s basketball coaching staff by naming Jim Glash as the new assistant coach.

Glash comes to UMR from Olney Central College, where he served as the head coach for nine seasons. He left the program following the 2004-05 season after winning 160 games at the college, the most by any coach in school history.

“This is a tremendous institution that competes in an outstanding league and I am looking forward to the challenge here at UMR,” Glash said. “I hope that with my background that I can help attract those student-athletes who can compete in this conference and get a great education.”

“I’ve known Jim for a number of years and believe that he will be a great addition to our program,” said Miner head coach Dale Martin. “Jim has a proven track record not only as a recruiter as many of his players have gone on to play at the Division I and Division II levels, but also in his commitment to academics.

“The student-athletes in his program graduated at an impressive rate and he knows the type of players you need to be successful in the Great Lakes Valley Conference,” Martin said.

"I am pleased to have Jim joining our outstanding coaching staff at UMR," said UMR director of athletics Mark Mullin. "We are fortunate to have someone with Jim's experience. He will be an excellent representative for Miner athletics. I am confident he will make an immediate and positive impact on our program."

Glash helped turn around a program at Olney Central that had finished in the lower half of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference in nine of the previous 11 years, leading it to an outright league title in 1999-00 after sharing the league title the year prior to that. The 1999-00 squad that claimed the conference title helped Glash land the league’s “Coach of the Year” award.

During his tenure, 11 Blue Knight players earned all-conference honors and 11 were named to the All-Region 24 team. The school’s first two All-America players also came through the school during that time.

Before his stint at OCC, where his teams finished in the top half of the conference in eight of the nine years he was there, Glash served as a coach at both the junior college and four-year level. He served on the staffs at the University of Illinois-Chicago for four seasons and at North Park College in Illinois for one year when that school won the Division III national championship.

Glash also spent time at Kennedy-King College in the Chicago area and at Columbia College in California.

In the time he spent at Olney Central, Glash’s players graduated at a 93 percent rate and 39 of his players went on to earn scholarships at other four-year institutions, including seven who played at schools in the GLVC.