Joseph Charles Golding (born October 15, 1975) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former player. He is currently the head men's basketball coach at

The University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

, having previously served in the same capacity at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

, where he played point guard from 1994 to 1998.

Early Years

Golding grew up in

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

before relocating with his family as a teenager to

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

, where he graduated from

Wichita Falls High School Wichita Falls High School (WFHS) is a public school in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls Independent School District (WFISD) and is one of the district's three high schools. Located at 2149 Avenue H and Coyote B ...

. He then played basketball at

, earning four letters from 1994 to 1998, and graduated from ACU in 1999.

Coaching career

The beginning of Golding's career was spent at the high school and junior college levels, with assistant coaching positions at

South Garland High School South Garland High School (SGHS) is a secondary school located in Garland, Texas. The school is part of the Garland Independent School District. The mascot for SGHS is the Titan, after retiring the Colonel, and the school colors are red and Columb ...

, Seminole State College and

Collin College Collin College is a public community college district in Texas. Founded in 1985, the district has grown as the county has grown from around 5,000 students in 1986 to more than 58,000 credit and noncredit students. Formerly known as the Coll ...

. His first head coaching job came in 2002 when, at age 27, he was hired to lead the program at

Sachse High School Sachse High School is a public high school located in Sachse, Texas (USA). Sachse High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Garland Independent School District. The first graduating class was the Charter Class of 2005. ...

. In 2005, he was hired as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Abilene Christian, spending three seasons with the Wildcats before joining the coaching staff under Steve Shields at the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock) is a public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year ...

in 2008. During his final season in Little Rock, Golding helped lead the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

to a championship in the Sun Belt Conference tournament and a berth in the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Abilene Christian

Golding's first head coaching job was at his alma mater, when he was hired to lead the program at Abilene Christian in 2011 at age 36. The difficulty of his first two losing seasons with the Wildcats in the Division II

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

was compounded when ACU accepted an invitation to join the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

and make the transition to playing

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

basketball. After the transition to Division I, Golding and the Wildcats endured four more losing seasons before making their first postseason appearance with a berth in the

CIT CIT or cit may refer to: Organizations * CIT Group, an American banking and financial services company * CIT Bank, a subsidiary of CIT Group * Center for Information Technology, of the US government * Compagnia Italiana Turismo, an Italian travel ...

following the 2017–2018 season. The next year, the Wildcats won 27 games, captured the title at the Southland Conference tournament and earned the school's first-ever invitation to the NCAA tournament, where they lost to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in the first round. While the Wildcats' second consecutive 20-win season in 2019–20 did not produce a postseason appearance because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, they returned to the Big Dance in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

by winning their second Southland Conference tournament title. As the 14th seed in the East Regional, ACU entered the 2021 NCAA tournament as a heavy underdog in the first round against 3rd-seeded

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, who had just won the Big 12 Conference tournament. Utilizing a stifling defense that forced 23 turnovers, the Wildcats shocked the Longhorns, 53–52. It was the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory and the first win for a 14-seed since 2016. The Wildcats' season concluded two days later, when they were defeated by eventual Final Four participant

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the second round.

UTEP

On April 14, 2021, Golding was officially introduced as the 20th head men's basketball coach at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

in a press conference held at the

Don Haskins Center The Don Haskins Center, formerly known as the Special Events Center, is the home of UTEP Miners men's and women's basketball. The venue is located in the heart of El Paso, Texas. In addition to hosting sporting events, the Don Haskins Center is al ...

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

Family

Golding's grandfather and great-uncle were brothers, both named Joe Golding, who each left their own athletic legacy. His grandfather, Joseph Lester Golding, was a longtime high school football coach who led Wichita Falls High to four state championships. The field at Wichita Falls' Memorial Stadium was named in his honor and he was posthumously elected to the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1988. His great-uncle, Joseph Griffith Golding, was an All-American halfback at

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in 1946 before playing for five seasons in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. His sister, Kate, is married to current TCU football coach

Sonny Dykes Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969) is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Meth ...

. He and his wife, Amanda, have two sons named Chase and Cason Golding.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Abilene Christian profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golding, Joe 1975 births Living people Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball coaches Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Texas College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Little Rock Trojans men's basketball coaches Point guards UTEP Miners men's basketball coaches