Montclair State University Athletics

Justin Potts begins his eighth season at the helm of the Montclair State University men’s basketball program in 2026-27.
 
Potts, who sits fifth all-time in program history with 118 wins, has an impressive .694 overall winning percentage and a .707 clip in NJAC contests. His overall winning percentage is the best in program history.

The 2025-26 campaign marked one of the most successful and historic runs in the history of the program, headlined by a program record 25 wins that broke a 57-year mark. Montclair ascended to the top of the D3Hoops.com Division III Top 25 Poll, marking the first time in program history that the team has been ranked number one in the country and just the second time in the state of New Jersey that a program has reached the nation's top mark (Seton Hall, 1953).

Montclair posted a 24 game winning streak to kick off the 2025-26 season, tying Rowan's 1993-94 team for the second-longest winning streak in the history of the NJAC. The Red Hawks won their second consecutive NJAC Regular Season Championship, with their 58 conference regular season wins over the last four seasons being the most of any four-year stretch in the history of the program. Their appearance in the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament marked their third trip to the competition in the past four seasons, including each of the last two being named a host site.

The run came on the heels of a 22-win campaign during the 2024-25 season in which Montclair won both the NJAC Regular Season Title and NJAC Championship, clinching their first conference title since 2003. Two years prior in 2022-23, the Red Hawks also posted 22 wins, the most in a season for the program since that 2002-03 team.

• Named the 18^th head coach in program history in August 2019.
• Has won an NJAC Playoff Game in each of the last six seasons dating back to the 2020-21 campaign.
• Guided the Red Hawks to the seventh, eighth, and ninth NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.
• Named NJAC, NABC District IV, and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year in 2022-23.
• Earned NJAC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
• Named NABC District IV Coach of the Year and All-Met Division III Coach of the Year in 2025-26.

• Guided Steven Breeman to All-American honors during the 2022-23 campaign, the first All-American coached by Potts as a head coach as well as the Pony Wilson NJAC Player of the Year.
• Coached his second All-American in 2025-26, as Jacob Morales earned the honor from two different organizations, as well as being named the Pony Wilson NJAC Player of the Year.
• Has coached seven All-Region performers, one Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year, and 22 All-Conference players (15 NJAC, seven Landmark).
• Guided Kabrien Goss to NJAC Rookie of the Year honors during the 2024-25 campaign, the ninth in program history.
• Received NJAC Coach of the Year honors in 2022-23 and was part of the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year in 2017-18. Earned NJAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
• Under Potts’ tutelage, the Red Hawks have shattered the school-record for three-pointers. The 2019-20, 2021-22, and 2023-24 team drained 275 triples as the 2022-23 team hit 336, surpassing 300 for the first time in program history. They followed that up in 2024-25 by sinking 343 three-pointers, which ranked third in the nation. Jacob Morales led the nation in three-point makes with 108 during the same season.
• The 2025-26 campaign saw the Red Hawks break the record again, draining 371 shots from beyond the arc to lead the nation in three-point makes. They ranked second in the country in three-point percentage with a 40.2 percent clip. They also sat atop the nation in assists per game, averaging 21.5 per contest. The team also set program records in points (2,571) and total assists (603).

• Guided Montclair to the top of the nation's Top 25 Poll, marking the first time in program history and the first time in the history of the NJAC a school has been ranked number one. Helped break a 73-year drought across all levels for a New Jersey school to be ranked first in the nation.
• Helped compile Montclair's best season in program history with a record 25 wins in 2025-26, including the team's longest-ever winning streak at 24 games, which is tied for the second-longest in NJAC history.
• Led Montclair to 22 wins in 2022-23 and 2024-25, the most the program had in 20 years.
• Steered Montclair to its first NJAC Tournament Championship since 2002-03.
• Has guided the Red Hawks to the NJAC Semifinals in each of the last six years, including back-to-back NJAC Championship Game appearances.
• Sent Montclair to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. Followed it up with another appearance in 2024-25, making it to the Second Round, and earning the third bid in the last four seasons during the 2025-26 season.
• Served as the Head Coach at Moravian University for four seasons (2015 – 2019) and posted 70 wins.
• Led Greyhounds to NCAA Tournament Appearances in 2017-18 and 2018-19 as they won the Landmark Conference both seasons.

• Victory #1 (at Moravian) – November 22, 2015 (98-70 vs. Old Westbury)
• Victory #50 (at Moravian) – February 24, 2018 (81-78 vs. Juniata)
• Victory #71 (1^st at Montclair State) – November 9, 2019 (107-74 vs. Williamette)
• Victory #100 – February 12, 2022 (62-59 vs. NJCU)
• Victory #150 – January 11, 2025 (88-84 vs. Stockton)

• Graduated from Moravian in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
• Completed a Master’s of Science in Exercise Science at East Stroudsburg University in 2007.
• Resides in Bethlehem, Pa. with wife Carrie and daughters Quinn and Kennedy.