Hood and Martin's Kentucky connection is revived at Missouri Western

May 15—When it comes to college basketball, Jon Hood knows how to win.

Hood played for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team across one of the winningest stretches of its illustrious basketball history, including three Final Fours and one national championship.

That experience is headed to St. Joe, as Hood joins coach Will Martin's staff at Missouri Western.

"When he asked me if I'd be interested, I jumped at it," Hood said. "I'm extremely happy and extremely grateful that he's given me the opportunity to come out here and help."

Hood was one of the top basketball recruits in the country out of Madisonville, Kentucky in the class of 2009. He chose to stay in his home state and enroll at Kentucky.

In doing so, he joined a Wildcats recruiting class that is heralded as one of the best in the history of college basketball. Hood was joined by NBA All-Stars John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, as well as NBA first-round draft picks Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton, in the class, which went on to the Elite Eight in their freshman season.

It was at Kentucky where Hood and Martin first met. Martin was a student assistant for the Wildcats while he was in school at Kentucky.

"Our relationship started with a vested interest in sweat equity," Martin said. "He was trying to become the best player that he could be, and I was a young student assistant, and I was trying to become the best future coach that I could be."

Hood said the two first met when he was on campus visits to Kentucky while still in high school, but it was his freshman year when he really got the chance to get to know Martin.

"What you all see now, and what the world sees, that's him," Hood said. "He's a great coach, he's an unbelievable human being, he's a great friend, great mentor."

Hood ended up playing at Kentucky for five seasons, from 2009 to 2014. While Martin went on to begin his coaching career, Hood briefly continued his playing career, with stints in Italy and Canada.

When his playing career ended, Hood moved back to Lexington, where he married his wife, Tara, and began working in medical device sales. In 2017, Hood and his wife moved to Owensboro, Kentucky.

After a year in Owensboro, Hood said his itch for basketball came back.

"I had volunteered at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, but I knew I wanted to coach college," Hood said. "I sent kind of a hope and a prayer email to coach Drew Cooper at Kentucky Wesleyan College and asked if he needed any kind of help."

The email worked, as Hood joined the staff at Kentucky Wesleyan. He spent one year as an assistant at Wesleyan, one of Division-II's historic basketball powerhouses. The Panthers have the most national championships of any Division-II team, with eight.

"It was a great experience," Hood said. "Then, at the end of the year, I got a text from coach Martin."

Martin had just completed his first year as head coach at Missouri Western, and was looking to fill out his coaching staff.

"We'd kept up over the years," Martin said, "and I'd always told him if I became a head coach, he'd always be on my shortlist, and it kind of just worked out perfectly."

Martin said he'd seen Hood be a "player coach" while a part of the team at Kentucky, and he knew he had what it takes to be a good coach.

"He's always had that 'it factor' that you look for in coaches," Martin said. "He has an instinctual ability to feed into people and to share his vision, both on the court and off the court."

In leaving his home state and coming to St. Joseph, Hood said he knew he was in good hands if he was working with Martin.

"Facilities and the town and everything is great," Hood said, "but it's someone that I know I could trust, regardless of what I did, and he'd be there."

With Hood joining the staff, Martin said they hope to create a new winning culture for Griffon hoops based on their successful experiences at Kentucky.

"We're trying to establish a standard here," Martin said. "A lot of what we learned and experienced at Kentucky is what it takes to be excellent, what it takes to be above and beyond in everything that you do."

Martin said he and Hood had similar, but different, experiences at Kentucky, both of which can benefit their players. While Martin absorbed more of the coaching side from Hall of Fame coach John Calipari, Hood got the players' perspective, learning from his teammates what it takes to be successful.

"Being with those guys, and seeing what it took when they were in college and then when they left and they came back," Hood said, "seeing how hard they worked and what they worked on and their mindset and the whole deal was extremely eye opening."

In combining their shared knowledge, Hood said he hopes to help set the new standard for Missouri Western and keep winning, just like he always has.

"That's my goal, is to win," Hood said. I don't know if it'll be national championship, but that's always the goal."

Local Videos

Northwest track and field prepares for final meet, nationals

* Updated

6 hrs ago

Missouri Updates HIV Legislation

* Updated

May 14, 2021

Limited Visitations At Buchanan County Jail

* Updated

May 14, 2021

Jacob Lang can be reached at jacob.lang@newspressnow.com. Follow him on twitter: @NPNowLang.