Suffolk

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Jeff Juron is set to begin his sixth season as Suffolk men’s head basketball coach in 2020-21, while also serving as the department’s Assistant Director of Athletics.

Juron, an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Rochester who made three appearances in the NCAA Division III National Tournament and was a NCAA national runner-up as a player, was named Suffolk University’s fifth head coach of men’s basketball prior to tip-off of the 2015-16 season.

Under Juron’s guidance, Suffolk basketball has turned things around as of late, compiling a 62-69 (.473) overall record over the last five seasons with a 36-38 (.486) ledger versus GNAC foes with five straight tickets to the conference’s postseason tournament. Award wise, eight Rams have taken home all-conference honors highlighted by Brendan Mulson’s Rookie of the Year nod in 2017-18, and three individuals – Caleb Unni, Michael Hagopian and Thomas Duffy – joined the 1,000-point club. The acknowledgements have not just been for athletic success though, as 11 student-athletes have combined for 15 NABC Honor Court nods, while Suffolk’s squad has taken home four NABC Team Academic Excellence Award for its work in the classroom, achieving a team GPA of at least a 3.0 over an academic year.  

Bolstered by Juron’s first-ever recruiting class that matured to seniors, Suffolk had one goal in mind in 2019-20, win the GNAC Championship. With tightly-contested conference competition, the Rams finished in a four-way tie for fourth place with a 6-5 league ledger. After head-to-heads and tiebreakers, the blue-and-gold took the seventh seed into the playoff field that sent Suffolk to Albertus Magnus, who the Rams stunned in the regular-season, upsetting the then-No. 19 Falcons, 81-68. In a game that went down to the wire, Suffolk landed on the wrong side of an 82-79 decision to wrap up the year, Juron’s fifth, 14-12 overall. 

Award wise, Juron and Suffolk earned one of the biggest achievements a NCAA Division III program could, as the 2019-20 Sam Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award honorees, which is presented by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association (CBOA) to the college or university which, in the judgement of the CBOA membership exemplifies the “highest degree of sportsmanship character and ethics among their players, coaches and spectators.”

The award haul in 2019-20 also included Thomas Duffy’s third all-league nod with a spot on the All-GNAC Third-Team. Duffy is the first student-athlete to take home three all-conference honorees under Juron’s guidance.

Suffolk's 2018-19 well-balanced squad, led by Juron's intellect, was one for the Rams' record books. The team produced the most wins (18) since 1975-76 and the had the highest GNAC finish (second) since 2002 with a 9-2 league ledger. Juron's Rams hosted the league's quarterfinals for the first time in his tenure and since 2004, but saw their season end early to a talented seventh-seed Saint Joseph (Conn.) in the tournament's opening round. After guiding the Rams to an 18-8 overall ledger, Juron was recognized by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year. 

Individually, senior Michael Hagopian and junior Thomas Duffy each joined the Rams' 1,000-point club, while Alexander Jacovides proved himself as not just the biggest shooting threat at the conference or regional level, but ended the season as the NCAA Division III Statistical Champion in three-point field goal percentage, shooting at a 53.8 percent clip behind-the-arc. Duffy and senior Steven DiPrizio represented the Rams on the all-conference team with spots on the first and third teams, respectively. 

In 2017-18, Juron led Suffolk to a 14-12 season and a GNAC semifinal run, the team’s fourth-ever appearance in the league’s semis. The third-year head coach steered the Rams to the most conference wins (9-7) since (2005-06; 9-9) to seal their sixth straight appearance in the league’s postseason and highest seed at sixth since 2013.

Juron coached a trio of all-league honorees, the most for the blue-and-gold in the program history with freshman forward Brendan Muslon garnering GNAC Rookie of the Year status, Thomas Duffy (second) and Michael Hagopian (third) becoming the first pair of Suffolk teammates to be named to the all-league team together since Winston Daly and Jason Luisi in 2001-02. 

Juron directed Suffolk back to the GNAC Tournament in his second season in 2016-17. After going, 6-12 against conference competition, Juron’s Rams secured the seventh seed in the tournament, making their fifth consecutive trip. Suffolk could not take down league powerhouse Johnson & Wales, however, to finish the year 7-19 overall. The 70th season of Suffolk men’s basketball featured highlights despite its ending, with Michael Hagopian’s back-to-back 30-plus point performances, a feat which has not happened for a student-athlete in blue-and-gold in over a decade. The sophomore also added All-GNAC second-team status to his resume.  

As a squad, Suffolk earned distinction as the league’s Institutional Sportsmanship Award recipient, marking the first time the Rams took home the honor. 

In his first season at the helm of Suffolk’s program the Rams turned on the engines at just the right time. Sitting at 4-15 heading into February, Suffolk won four of its final six to improve to 8-17 overall and 6-12 against conference competition to clinch the seventh seed in the GNAC Tournament. 

For the tournament’s quarterfinals Suffolk ventured to second-seeded Lasell February 23, who the Rams just upset four days earlier in a 67-66 thriller. History did not repeat itself however, as the Lasers held off the Rams, 78-64, to end the blue-and-gold’s run and season at 8-18 overall. 

Juron coached Rams’ to individual milestones along the way. Senior Caleb Unni, a four-time GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team selection, sealed his spot in Suffolk’s 1,000-point club and 100-game status the same day. Classmate Adam Chick also played in his 100th career game, while fellow senior Jake Meister earned a spot on the GNAC’s second-team. 

A six-year coaching veteran, Suffolk was Juron’s first head coaching job. He came to Boston after spending five seasons at Rochester as an assistant coach. During that span, he helped the Yellow Jackets to an 81-49 (.623) overall record, two University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships and two NCAA appearances including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2010-11. That same season, Juron and his colleagues were honored as the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year and the East Region Coaching Staff of the Year. One of Rochester’s most outstanding campaign’s with Juron on the bench was the 2012-13 slate where the Yellow Jackets posted a 22-5 overall ledger, earned a midseason No. 1 ranking from D3Hoops.com and put together the second longest winning streak in the program’s history, which spans more than 100 years.  

With a variety of responsibilities in Upstate New York, which included scouting and recruiting efforts, Juron took a passion to player development. During his five-year stint at Rochester he helped develop John DiBartolomeo, the 2013 D3Hoops.com National Player of the Year, 2013 NABC First-Team All-American, two-time UAA Player of the Year and 2013 Jostens Trophy Nominee, as well as Nate Vernon a four-time All-UAA Performer and 1,000-point scorer and three additional all-conference selections.

In addition to his success with the Yellow Jackets, Juron spent a season as an assistant coach for Skidmore College during the 2009-10 campaign where he helped the Thoroughbreds to the most wins, best record and highest Liberty League finish in the history of the program to date. At Skidmore, he was actively involved in recruiting, practice planning and execution, while working with players both individually and on a team basis, using film sessions and on-court instructions to prepare for competition.

As a four-year starting point guard at Rochester from 2004-2008, he helped the Yellow Jackets to the Division III Big Dance three times, including a spot in the 2005 national championship game. With Juron in the starting lineup, Rochester captured the 2005 UAA title and won two JPMorgan Chase Tournament titles. He is a four-time UAA honorable mention selection.

Juron took his talents oversees after graduating Rochester in 2008 with dual bachelor’s degrees in political science and English. When he was not acting as the floor general for the BC Vlijmscherp in Den Bosch, Netherlands, he participated in instructional clinics for the community.

Upon his return to Rochester to coach, Juron continued his education and received his Masters of Science degree in Business Administration from the Simon School of Business in May 2014.