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Jaden Uken joins basketball staff
PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley men's basketball head coach Geno Ford has filled one of two open positions on his coaching staff with the appointment of his former Kent State director of operations Jaden Uken to assistant coach. Uken joins first-year assistant Willie Scott on the Braves staff.
"Jaden was instrumental in our successes at Kent State," said Ford. "He is very polished for a younger coach. He can recruit, teach our system and shares our staff's deep passion to help us get Bradley Basketball back to a high level."
"I am excited about the opportunity to work at Bradley University," said Uken. "The tradition and passion of the area for Bradley Basketball is a daily motivator as we rebuild this program. I know that having worked the past three years with Coach Ford eases the transition as we hit the ground running."
Uken (pronounced YOO - kin) first joined Ford's staff as the director of operations at Kent State from 2008-11, helping the Golden Flashes to a 68-37, three-year record, highlighted by back-to-back Mid-American Conference regular-season titles and NIT appearances in 2010 and 2011. In his role at Kent State, Uken was responsible for film breakdown, team travel, academic monitoring and camp administration.
Uken also is an experienced on-the-court coach, having previously served as an assistant coach at Chipola (Fla.) College from 2006-08 and Barton (Kan.) County Community College in 2003-04. In between his junior college coaching assignments, Uken was a graduate assistant from 2004-06 at the University of Nebraska, where he also served as a student manager from 1998-2003.
In his two seasons at Chipola College, Uken helped the Indians to a 68-5 combined record, back-to-back Panhandle Conference and NJCAA Region VIII championships and a runner-up finish in the 2007 NJCAA national tournament. The 2006-07 Chipola squad held the No. 1 national ranking for 10 consecutive weeks during a 33-3 campaign, while the 2007-08 Indians held the top spot for 11 consecutive weeks en route to a 35-2 final record.
Uken also helped produce 12 NCAA Division I signees during his two seasons at Chipola, including JaMarcus Ellis (Indiana), the 2007 NJCAA National Player of the Year, and Mario Little (Kansas), the 2008 Florida Junior College Player of the Year. In addition, Uken was instrumental in the recruitment of 2009 NJCAA National Player of the Year Casey Mitchell (West Virginia).
In a similar role at Barton County Community College for the 2003-04 season, Uken helped a Cougars squad that featured second-team NJCAA All-American JP Batista (Gonzaga) to a 25-9 record.
Following his one year at Barton County, Uken returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant on Barry Collier's Nebraska staff. In Uken's second year with the Huskers, Nebraska completed the 2005-06 season with a 19-14 record, which concluded with a semifinal run to the Big 12 Conference Tournament and a NIT appearance. While assisting the basketball program, Uken earned his master's degree in instructional technology from Nebraska in 2006.
While serving as a student manager for the Huskers basketball team, Uken earned his bachelor's degree in education from Nebraska in 2003. A graduate of Harvard Public Schools in Nebraska, Uken was a four-year basketball letterwinner for the Cardinals.
PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley men's basketball head coach Geno Ford has filled one of two open positions on his coaching staff with the appointment of his former Kent State director of operations Jaden Uken to assistant coach. Uken joins first-year assistant Willie Scott on the Braves staff.
"Jaden was instrumental in our successes at Kent State," said Ford. "He is very polished for a younger coach. He can recruit, teach our system and shares our staff's deep passion to help us get Bradley Basketball back to a high level."
"I am excited about the opportunity to work at Bradley University," said Uken. "The tradition and passion of the area for Bradley Basketball is a daily motivator as we rebuild this program. I know that having worked the past three years with Coach Ford eases the transition as we hit the ground running."
Uken (pronounced YOO - kin) first joined Ford's staff as the director of operations at Kent State from 2008-11, helping the Golden Flashes to a 68-37, three-year record, highlighted by back-to-back Mid-American Conference regular-season titles and NIT appearances in 2010 and 2011. In his role at Kent State, Uken was responsible for film breakdown, team travel, academic monitoring and camp administration.
Uken also is an experienced on-the-court coach, having previously served as an assistant coach at Chipola (Fla.) College from 2006-08 and Barton (Kan.) County Community College in 2003-04. In between his junior college coaching assignments, Uken was a graduate assistant from 2004-06 at the University of Nebraska, where he also served as a student manager from 1998-2003.
In his two seasons at Chipola College, Uken helped the Indians to a 68-5 combined record, back-to-back Panhandle Conference and NJCAA Region VIII championships and a runner-up finish in the 2007 NJCAA national tournament. The 2006-07 Chipola squad held the No. 1 national ranking for 10 consecutive weeks during a 33-3 campaign, while the 2007-08 Indians held the top spot for 11 consecutive weeks en route to a 35-2 final record.
Uken also helped produce 12 NCAA Division I signees during his two seasons at Chipola, including JaMarcus Ellis (Indiana), the 2007 NJCAA National Player of the Year, and Mario Little (Kansas), the 2008 Florida Junior College Player of the Year. In addition, Uken was instrumental in the recruitment of 2009 NJCAA National Player of the Year Casey Mitchell (West Virginia).
In a similar role at Barton County Community College for the 2003-04 season, Uken helped a Cougars squad that featured second-team NJCAA All-American JP Batista (Gonzaga) to a 25-9 record.
Following his one year at Barton County, Uken returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant on Barry Collier's Nebraska staff. In Uken's second year with the Huskers, Nebraska completed the 2005-06 season with a 19-14 record, which concluded with a semifinal run to the Big 12 Conference Tournament and a NIT appearance. While assisting the basketball program, Uken earned his master's degree in instructional technology from Nebraska in 2006.
While serving as a student manager for the Huskers basketball team, Uken earned his bachelor's degree in education from Nebraska in 2003. A graduate of Harvard Public Schools in Nebraska, Uken was a four-year basketball letterwinner for the Cardinals.
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