Indiana State University Athletics

Jason Pruitt enters his first season as associate head women's basketball coach at Indiana State and joined the program in June 2024.

Pruitt joins the Sycamore coaching staff with more than a decade of head coaching experience. He was most recently the head coach at Elmhurst, where he helped the Bluejays to a nine-win improvement from the previous season while securing a spot in the CCIW Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
 
Pruitt’s lone season at Elmhurst saw the Bluejays’ numbers skyrocket, improving their scoring offense by nearly 20 points per game compared to the 2022-23 season. Elmhurst’s scoring defense also improved by nearly two points per game, while the Bluejays averaged 13.5 steals per game and improved their rebounding total to 43.2 boards per game. In addition, Elmhurst’s 12 wins were the program’s most since the 2017-18 season and represented more wins than the previous three seasons combined.
 
Known as a strong program builder, Pruitt has turned multiple rebuilding programs into conference contenders. Prior to his season at Elmhurst, he spent five years at La Verne, where he took over a program that went 3-22 the season before his arrival and turned the Leopards into one of the top Division III teams in the country. Pruitt went 67-62 in his five seasons as head coach at La Verne, winning double-digit games in four of those seasons. His teams were known for strong offense, averaging better than 75 points per game in each of his last three seasons at the helm. Across his final three seasons, the Leopards had an average scoring margin of plus-10.0, while averaging 77.1 points per game. Pruitt coaches six first team all-conference honorees in his five seasons at La Verne.
 
La Verne went 24-3 in Pruitt’s final season at the helm, winning the SCIAC regular season title and spending multiple weeks inside the Division III national rankings. Pruitt was named the D3Hoops Region 10 Coach of the Year, while his staff was named the SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year. Three of his student-athletes earned all-conference honors as part of La Verne’s record-setting season. La Verne went 15-1 in SCIAC play to earn its first-ever No. 1 seed at the conference tournament and posted strong records both at home (14-2) and on the road (10-1).

Prior to his time at La Verne, Pruitt spent the 2016-17 season as the head coach at the University of Antelope Valley, where he made an immediate impact on the Pioneers. Antelope Valley compiled a 19-7 record, including an 11-3 mark in Cal Pac Conference play to win the regular season championship. Pruitt was named Cal Pac Coach of the Year, while three Pioneers earned all-conference honors, including the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Antelope Valley led the Cal Pac Conference in scoring in Pruitt’s only season at the helm as the Pioneers averaged nearly 90 points per game, a mark that remains the conference record for single-season scoring average. The Pioneers also set the conference record in rebounding, pulling down an average of 53.4 boards per game, while boasting two of the three highest single-game scoring totals in conference history. Antelope Valley surpassed the 100-point mark in seven games, and the Pioneers also pulled off an upset of Pepperdine in an exhibition to begin the season.
 
Pruitt began his head coaching career at Bethesda University, where he turned the Flames into one of the top teams in the National Christian College Athletic Association. Bethesda earned its first-ever postseason in 2013-14, then improved on that in each of the next two years. The Flames won back-to-back NCAAA Western Region Championships in 2014-15 and 2015-16, earning Pruitt NCCAA Western Region Coach of the Year honors in both seasons. Pruitt’s 2014-15 team at Bethesda made a run to the NCCAA National Championship, earning national runner-up honors.
 
Pruitt also previously spent time as the associate men’s basketball coach at Caltech and the associate head basketball coach at the NSU University School.

Prior to his time coaching, Pruitt spent a decade in the media industry in various positions at NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates. He has also spent time teaching at the high school and collegiate levels, leading courses in communication, media technology, digital journalism and sports marketing.

A decorated athlete himself, Pruitt was a star basketball and track & field athlete at Colbert County (Ala.) HS, where he earned a pair of high jump state championships and was a part of the 1997 Alabama State basketball championship team. Pruitt went on to play basketball at Calhoun Community College, where he won the NJCAA Alabama State Championship and played in the NJCAA National Championship game. He finished his collegiate athletic career with a season at Mississippi Valley State before spending his last season at Kentucky State. Pruitt was recently inducted into the Colbert County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 for his outstanding athletic accomplishments in the county.

Pruitt holds an associate degree from Calhoun Community College, a bachelor’s degree in Mass Media Arts from Clark Atlanta University and a master’s degree in Educational Technology from Nova Southeastern. He and his wife, Kara, have three daughters, Trinidy, Jayla and Kya, and a son, Quest.