Eric Strothers is entering his third year as Assistant Basketball Coach at Mississippi Valley State University. The veteran coach previously spent 20 years as an assistant coach at Jackson State University, where he helped lead the Tigers to three NCAA Tournament appearances (1997, 2000, 2007).
During the summer of 2009, Strothers was named one of the best mid-major assistant coaches in NCAA Division I basketball by the collegeinsider.com. Then, in 2010, he was tabbed the SWAC Assistant Basketball Coach of the Year.
Coach Strothers' responsibilities include recruiting, scouting, managing the student-athlete academic program, supervising study hall, directing the off-season conditioning program and various administrative duties with the team.
Strothers recruited has recruited a plethora of talent including former NBA guard Trey Johnson, who starred at JSU and was named the SWAC MVP.
The Vicksburg, Mississippi native graduated from Vicksburg High School and came to Jackson State as a basketball hopeful. Strothers was an All-County football player in high school, but had less than one year of basketball experience as he saw action in only two games his senior year.
He was a walk-on player when then-assistant coach Chris Giles (former Tigers associate head coach) discovered the package of tremendous potential Strothers possessed. By the time Strothers left Jackson State, he was a first-team All-SWAC forward who led Jackson State to a regular season conference title; a SWAC tournament title and a chance to play in the NCAA tournament play-in game against Coastal Carolina.
He was voted the team's Most Valuable Player his junior and senior seasons and garnered a SWAC Player-of-the-Week and Black Entertainment Television (BET) Player-of-the-Week honors during his senior campaign. His 17.4 points per game average during his senior year put him in the Jackson State 1,000 point Club as he finished his collegiate career with 1,251 total points.
Strothers graduated from Jackson State with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Sioux Falls franchise of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and played in the exhibition season for the South Dakota team before deciding to play overseas. Strothers started in the Holland Pro League for a season before playing in Hong Kong where he led his team to second place in division play, the team's best finish.
Strothers has a master's degree in Physical Education from Jackson State. He has two children, Eric II and Ericia.
