Arkansas State University

Balado came to Arkansas State after spending more than 15 seasons as an assistant coach, his last stop covering four seasons at the University of Louisville.

In five seasons at the helm, Balado has guided A-State to 69 wins, increasing the program's win total from one season to the next in four of his five years at the helm. Most recently in 2021-22, the Red Wolves posted at least 18 victories for just the fourth time since the 1999-2000 season.

The Red Wolves have won six road games twice under Balado, marking just the 13th and 14th time over the last 50 seasons an A-State team won six or more road games. The 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons saw A-State finish the regular season with 16 or more wins for the 18th and 19th time in 52 seasons at the Division I level (since 1970-71).

Balado recruited and oversaw the development of Norchad Omier, the 2022 Sun Belt Player of the Year and Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year. Omier became the third player in league history to win both honors in the same season. Averaging 17.9 points and 12.2 rebounds while shooting 63.2 percent from the floor, Omier became the first player in league history to average at least 15 points and shoot better than 63 percent from the floor.

Omier, the fourth NCAA Division I freshman in the last 30 years to average at least 12 points and 12 rebounds, was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Sun Belt in 2020-21. It marked the first time an A-State player earned the Freshman of the Year award since 2009-10 and a first team all-conference selection since 2006-07.

A-State finished the 2021-22 season shooting .451 from the field, marking just the second time in the last 14 seasons it shot 45 percent or better. The team was 74.5 percent at the free throw line, the third-best percentage in program history and best since the 1984-85 season.

Defensively, A-State limited opponents to 68.1 points per game, the fewest by a Red Wolves team since 2012-13. Per KenPom, A-State has improved defensively each of the last five seasons to an adjusted defensive ranking of 133 this season, the best since the 2012-13 campaign.

In the 2019-20 season, A-State earned road wins at Colorado State and Tulsa and finished with six or more road wins for just the 13th time in the last 50 seasons. The Red Wolves were resilient with six comeback wins despite trailing by double-digits in the second half. The 2019-20 season saw A-State finish the regular season with 16 or more wins for the 18th time in 50 seasons at the Division I level (since 1970-71).

His first signing class, consisting of Ty Cockfield, Tristin Walley and Grantham Gillard, played a vital role on the floor. Cockfield set the single-season program record for scoring (716) and free throws made (173) and was a second team all-conference pick. Freshmen were pivotal in the 2019-20 season with Caleb Fields becoming the third freshman in program history with 100-plus assists and one of five freshmen nationally to average at least 11 points, three rebounds and three assists with fewer than two turnovers per game.

During Balado’s four seasons working at Louisville, the Cardinals posted a 106-32 overall record for a .768 winning percentage. In the 2016-17 campaign, he helped lead Louisville to a 25-9 record and a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

In the summer of 2015, Balado served as an assistant coach with the Puerto Rico National Team under coach Rick Pitino. The team competed in the Pan American Games and FIBA Americas Championship.

The Cardinals posted a 27-9 record in 2014-15 during their first season in the ACC and reached the NCAA Elite Eight. The 2015-16 season saw Louisville put together a 23-8 record and a No. 16 ranking in the final Associated Press poll while beating two Final Four participants in North Carolina and Syracuse.

His first season with the program saw it post a 31-6 record, claim the American Athletic Conference tournament and regular-season championships, advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 and earn a top-five national ranking.

“It took about five minutes of talking to Coach Balado to realize he is the man to lead our basketball program,” said Arkansas State University System President Dr. Chuck Welch. “His enthusiasm, energy and experience at a high-level program make him the perfect fit. Most importantly, he made it very clear that he had done his research and wanted this job. When we made the offer he said, ‘Let’s go win some championships.’ I have no doubt that is exactly what we are about to do with Coach Balado.”

Prior to joining the Louisville staff, Balado was an assistant coach for Richard Pitino at Florida International University. During that 2012-13 season, he helped the Panthers to an 18-14 record, their first winning season in 13 years and fourth-highest win total in school history.

Before his year at FIU, Balado worked three seasons at High Point University (2009-12) as an assistant coach. He assisted in all areas of the Panther basketball program with a heavy concentration on recruiting. He spent the 2008-09 season on the University of Miami (Fla.) staff where he helped the Hurricanes compile a 19-13 record and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). With the Hurricanes, he worked on player development, scouting and game preparation.

Preceding his stint at Miami, Balado spent three years on the Florida Atlantic University basketball staff. In his first two seasons at FAU (2005-07), the Owls had consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the 1990s. The Owls produced their best Atlantic Sun Conference record in school history (14-6) in his first season at FAU. The 2007-08 team set a program record with 2,367 points scored and 1,150 rebounds.

Balado spent two seasons as an assistant at Miami Dade College (NJCAA) before taking the post at FAU. While at Miami Dade, he helped lead the Sharks to back-to-back winning seasons, including a program-best 27-5 mark en route to the conference championship in 2004-05. He recruited four of Miami Dade’s 2004-05 all-conference selections, including the league player of the year.

Balado served as an assistant coach at Nova Southeastern University during the 2002-03 campaign. He began his collegiate coaching career at Augusta (Ga.) State University where he served as a graduate assistant from 1998-2000.

Balado played collegiate basketball at St. Thomas University in Miami, where he was a two-year starter and captain, while helping his team win the regular season conference title in 1997. He was the recipient of a student-athlete leadership award as a senior and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in 1998. He earned a Master’s of Education in Exercise and Sport Science from Augusta State in 2000.

A native of Miami, Fla., Balado speaks fluent Spanish. He is married to the former Alicia Nigro and the couple has twins, Aiden and Addy, born in June 2009.