Jon Tanous enters his sixth season at the helm for Penn State Abington.
2019-2020 Season
Last year the Penn State Abington men’s basketball team picked up numerous accolades and set a program record as their defense tightened up late in the season. Early in the season, the Nittany Lions upset Cairn University in a 99-93 win. The Highlanders would eventually go on to win the CSAC and have an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Abington made history later in the season with their defensive prowess by holding Penn State Berks to 51 points and Wells College to 47 points. Later in the year, the Nittany Lions limited the perennial NEAC powerhouse Lancaster Bible to a program-record 44 points toppling the Chargers 65-44 at home. Junior Pernell Ghee earned a Second Team All-Conference Award for his outstanding season. Off the court, the Nittany Lions earned a 3.41 team GPA in the classroom. The team was recognized with the program's first, Team Academic Excellence Award from the NABC and senior Bobby Olsen was named to the Honors Court for the second straight year. Bobby Olsen, Mohamed Mansaray and Rodeo Thompson all earned the NEAC Scholar-Athlete award for the 2019-2020 school year.
2018-2019 Season
The Nittany Lions had a successful season on and off the court in 2018-19. Abington picked up its first winning record since 2014 and dominated in the first round of the NEAC Tournament with a 93-66 win over the College of Saint Elizabeth. That win set the largest margin of victory for the Nittany Lions in the NEAC Tournament. Sophomore Pernell Ghee earned his first All-Conference Award of his career after netting 401 points to lead the Nittany Lions. Bobby Olsen picked up the NEAC Scholar-Athlete Award for his outstanding work in the classroom.
2017-2018 Season
In the 2017-2018 season, the Nittany Lions had a high energy offense finishing second in the conference in scoring and averaging 81.1 points per game. The Nittany Lions were powered by the NEAC Rookie of the Year Devin Hill averaging 15.1 points per game. The high-flying offense featured six players that hit the double-digit mark in scoring, the most in program history. Sophomore Quinn DeNofa was named a NEAC Scholar-Athlete after earning a GPA over 3.4 for the school year.
2016-2017 Season
In his second year Tanous brought in freshman John Ryan who would earn Third Team All-Conference in his rookie campaign. Over the next four seasons, Tanous developed Ryan into being the school's fourth-leading scorer with 989 points over his career. Ryan also earned the City of Basketball Love’s All-Area Division III Awards being on the All-Rookie Team. Austin Slawter was also named to the CoBL All-Rookie Team after he averaged 13.3 points and broke the single-game record for assists with 11.
2015-2016 Season
Tanous took over the Nittany Lions in a rebuilding season but helped develop Devin Jones and Dequan Jackson into two of the most prolific players for the Nittany Lions. Jones finished his career with over 1000 points which placed him in the top three for the Nittany Lions. Jackson finished sixth in school history with 889 points scored through his three years with the Nittany Lions. For his outstanding season, Jones earned his first All-Conference Team Appearance on the Second Team. Tanous also brought in transfer Yusef Savage who finished second in points per game, averaging 18.4 right behind Devin Jones. Nigerian native Kaine Gerry-Ofor excelled in the classroom being named to the NEAC Scholar-Athlete Awards list, earning over a 3.4 GPA.
Prior To Penn State Abington
Tanous and the Bombers captured back-to-back Empire 8 tournament championships in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Ithaca advanced to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen in 2012-13 and was ranked as high as No. 19 in the country. In 2014-15, the Bombers ranked among the NCAA Division III national leaders in three-point field goals made per game (12th, 9.6), three-point field goals made (22nd, 250), free-throw percentage (23rd, 76.0) and scoring offense (40th, 78.7).
A 2005 graduate of SUNY-Potsdam, Tanous returned to his alma mater following graduation to serve as an assistant coach for the Bears for the next six seasons. During his time at Potsdam Tanous was a four-year standout at shooting guard who led the Bears to SUNYAC tournament titles in his junior and senior seasons. Potsdam advanced to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen in 2003-04 and the Elite Eight in 2004-05.
Originally from Liberty, N.Y., Tanous obtained a bachelor's degree in childhood education with a minor in history from SUNY-Potsdam in December 2006 and a master's degree in technology education from SUNY-Potsdam in August 2008.
Jon and his wife Tara live in Abington, PA
