Jeff Rush (jmr296@psu.edu)enters his 4th season as head coach of the Penn State Hazleton Lions after spending three seasons as associate head coach from 2007-2009. Jeff's dedication and basketball expertise has earned him great respect and admiration from many of his coaching colleagues,according to Dr. Tom Caccese, Penn State Hazleton Director of Athletics and former head coach.

Rush's involvement with the Nittany Lions since the 2007 season has helped the Lions:

• Capture the 2007 PSUAC Northern Championship while posting a 15-3 conference record and earning a trip to the PSUAC Final 4 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
• Capture the 2008 PSUAC Northern Championship while posting a 13-4 conference record.
• Capture the 2009 PSUAC Northern Championship while posting a 15-2 conference record and earning a trip to the PSUAC Final 4 and Conference Championship game.
• Earned a bid to the 2009 USCAA National Tournament where the Lions lost to Vermont Tech in the National Quarter-Finals.  The Lions finished the season ranked 8th in the Nation (USCAA).
• Capture a share of the 2012 PSUAC Northern Division Title while posting an 11-5 conference record.

In his previous 6 seasons, Rush's teams have qualified for the PSUAC playoffs 4 times. Twice they have reached the PSUAC Final Four Tournament at the Bryce Jordan Center including a trip to the PSUAC Championship Game in 2009.

As a three year varsity high school player at Hazleton Area High School from 1994-1997, Rush helped lead the Cougars to a record of 73-13.  Rush was recruited by Dr. Caccese to play his college basketball at Penn State Hazleton.  In two seasons as the starting point guard from 1997-1999, Rush scored over 800 points while guiding the Lions to the PSUAC playoffs.  Rush was named to the all-conference team both seasons and was the only player to receive an all-conference vote from each coach in the PSUAC conference.