Coach Gibson steps down as DC Men’s Basketball Head Coach after five seasons
DEFIANCE, Ohio - Men's basketball head coach Josh Gibson is departing Defiance College as the Yellow Jackets undergo a transition of leadership, the Athletic Department announced on Friday.
Coach Gibson tendered his resignation this week following a five-year stint as head coach of the Purple and Gold. He led the Yellow Jackets to a 40-84 record from 2021-26 while overseeing the program's transition from NCAA Division III to NAIA. In his first season, the Yellow Jackets qualified for the HCAC Tournament and finished fourth in the conference before closing with an 11-11 record. DC won 16 total games the next three years before posting a 13-14 record this season, which was the program's most victories since 2015-16. The Yellow Jackets finished one win shy of the WHAC Tournament in each of the first two seasons since joining the conference. Under Coach Gibson, the Yellow Jackets had three all-conference selections (Marell Jordan 2021-22 and 2022-23; Evan Angstmann 2025-26) and accumulated 21 academic all-conference honors while carrying a 3.0 team GPA or better every semester.
Gibson came to Defiance after head coaching stops at Brescia (2012-16), Lourdes (2016-19) and Urbana (2019-20). In 13 seasons as a college head coach, the Murray, Kentucky native holds a 144-217 record through the 2025-26 season.
Quote Head Coach Josh Gibson
"I'd like to thank every player that I had the privilege of coaching during my time at Defiance. The job and my "why" for doing this has always been about the players, and we have had so many great players and great people in our program over the last five seasons. I would like to thank every assistant coach I've had here: Grant Soffer, Reggie Gallant, Will Garlock, Clif Snow, James Fitzpatrick, Nick Newland, Leroy Lewis, Anthony Jackson, and Dan Davis-Johnson. They all invested so much of themselves into the program and our players, and I am forever grateful for being able to work with them. I'd like to thank the alumni who were supportive of what we were working toward every day, specifically Anthony Jackson and Marv Retcher who love DC basketball and provided countless moments of support in multiple ways. Thank you to the members of the Purple and Gold Club, especially Mark and Keeta Diller for their incredible support of the players through fundraising and handling the book and clock at our games. I'd like to thank our amazing training staff, particularly Matt Slattman and Kevin Tong, who are some of the best in the business for their countless hours helping keep our student-athletes healthy. I would also like to thank our facilities director, Terry Ranes, for all of his work behind the scenes and keeping our facilities in amazing shape. I also have a deep appreciation for our communications director, Garett Mansfield, who is truly one of the best at any level at what he does for the high-level coverage he provides to our program. Lastly, I'd like to thank Derek Woodley for giving me the opportunity to be the caretaker of the program. I believe that we are leaving it better than we found it, and that the next coach will have the opportunity to take it to the next level. Thank you to all of Yellow Jacket Nation for supporting our student-athletes. I wish the program continued success into the future."
Quoting Athletic Director Tiffani Selhorst
"We thank Coach Gibson for his years of service and dedication to our men's basketball program at Defiance College. We wish him the best of luck in the next chapter of his coaching career. The search for DC's next head basketball coach is currently underway."
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