Joe Mihalich Jr. was hired as an assistant coach with the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball program in April 2015.
With Mihalich (pronounced mih-HALL-ick) on staff, Penn has played in five of the six Ivy League Tournaments played to date, one of just three programs to make such a claim (the others are Yale and Princeton). In addition, Penn players have totaled 14 All-Ivy honors in that time including AJ Brodeur being named co-Ivy League Player of the Year in 2019-20 and Jordan Dingle earning Ivy Rookie of the Year honors in 2019-20 and Player of the Year honors from the Ivy League, the Philadelphia Big 5, and the ECAC in 2022-23 when he finished the season ranked second nationally in points per game (23.4).
In 2017-18, Penn went 24-9 overall and won a share of the Ivy League title with a 12-2 mark in conference play. The Quakers then won the Ivy League Tournament with wins over Yale and co-champion Harvard, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years where they lost 76-60 to top-seeded Kansas in Wichita, Kan. The next season, Penn went a perfect 4-0 in Philadelphia Big 5 play including a win over defending NCAA champion Villanova at The Palestra and road victories at La Salle and Temple. It was the Quakers' first unbeaten Big 5 campaign since 2001-02 and just the second since 1973-74.
A Philadelphia native and the son of longtime Niagara and Hofstra head men’s basketball coach Joe Mihalich -- who is currently an assistant coach at La Salle -- the move to Penn marked a return to the area for Joe Jr. He spent two seasons as a graduate assistant with the men’s basketball program at Villanova University under Jay Wright, working directly with the Wildcats’ director of basketball operations; organizing and overseeing team and summer camps; and helping out with academics, scouting and recruiting. During Mihalich’s time with the program, Villanova posted a 46-20 record and made two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Prior to his arrival at Penn, Mihalich spent four years at the University of Scranton (Pa.) as the Royals’ assistant coach under head coach Carl Danzig. There, his primary responsibilities included recruiting, scouting, player skills’ development, overseeing daily operations, and development and implementation of game and practice plans.
Scranton won three Landmark Conference titles during his four-year tenure, and this year the Royals advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship second round before falling to a Babson team that reached the national semifinals. In 2012, Mihalich’s first season on staff, Scranton advanced to the sectional championship, the Royals’ first national quarterfinal appearance since 1993. Overall, Scranton went 89-25 during the last four seasons including a 47-11 mark in the conference play.
In addition to his coaching stints at Villanova and Scranton, Mihalich has also worked numerous summer camps including Villanova (2007, 2008), Notre Dame (2006-08), Michigan head coach John Beilen (2006, 2008), Nazareth College (2006, 2007) and Niagara University (2005-08).
Mihalich was a four-year letterman on the basketball team at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. In his junior year, the Golden Flyers won the Empire 8 Conference championship, advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament, and capped off the season with a 20-8 record under then-head coach Mike Daley. Mihalich was twice named the team’s Hustle, Heart and Harmony Award recipient, received Nazareth’s Emily Haskins Inspirational Athlete award as a senior, and was named to the Empire 8 President’s List for academic achievement in 2007. He also served as a student-athlete mentor.
Mihalich holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in mathematics, cum laude, from Nazareth, and a Master of Education degree from Villanova.
Mihalich and his wife, Grace, live in Center City Philadelphia with their three children: daughters Blaise and Josephine, and son Howie.
