Jamal Brunt

Biography

Jamal Brunt, a Division I assistant coach for more than 20 years, was hired at Syracuse in April 2026. He joined Gerry McNamara’s Orange staff after three seasons as an assistant coach at Penn State. BRUNT COACHING CAREER He embarked on a coaching career at his alma mater, Division III Randolph-Macon, with Rhoades. The Yellow Jackets made an NCAA Tournament appearance in Brunt’s two seasons. Brunt was hired as director of operations at Richmond in 2005. After two years in the post, Brunt was promoted by Coach Chris Mooney to assistant coach. In 2013, he was named associate head coach. In 10 campaigns at Richmond, Brunt was a part of six teams that earned postseason spots. The Spiders competed in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons (2009-10, 2010-11), played in the NIT once (2014-15), and made three visits to the College Basketball Invitational (2007-08, 2008-09 and 2012-13). In 2015-16, Brunt started a three-year tenure in an offensive coordinator role at Miami (Fla.) under Coach Jim Larranaga. The Hurricanes made three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Miami was 27-8, was ranked in the top 15 for 14 weeks, and advanced to the Sweet 16 in Brunt’s first year. Brunt rejoined Rhoades at Virginia Commonwealth in 2018-19. He made an immediate impact, helping the Rams to a 25-8 record and the NCAA Tournament the first year. In 2021-22 he was promoted to associate head coach and Virginia Commonwealth advanced to the NIT. One season later, the Rams were 27-8, won the Atl