NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jon Sanderson has been tabbed as the director of men’s basketball performance, Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington announced on Thursday.
Sanderson brings over 20 years of strength and conditioning experience to Vandy and spent the past 15 seasons leading the development of Michigan men’s basketball and men’s and women’s golf student-athletes. While with the Wolverines, Sanderson was part of over 300 wins on the hardwood and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. Michigan advanced to five-straight Sweet 16s and made four Elite Eight appearances during his time in Ann Arbor.
“The hiring of Jon was very important to our future success,” said Byington. “It also shows the commitment Vanderbilt is making in hiring one of the best strength coaches in the country. He will do a great job training our student-athletes and maximizing their potential.”
Sanderson is the only strength and conditioning coach in NCAA history to both play (Ohio State, 1999) and coach (Michigan, 2013 and 2018) in a Final Four. He also helped the Wolverines to three Big Ten regular season titles and a pair of Big Ten tournament championships.
On the hardwood, he has developed over 30 student-athletes who went on to play in the NBA following their collegiate careers.
Prior to joining Michigan, Sanderson spent three seasons as the men’s and women’s basketball strength and conditioning coach at Clemson. While with the Tigers, Sanderson helped the program to three-straight 20-win seasons — a first for Clemson men’s basketball.
He began his career as an intern at North Carolina in 2002-03 before spending three seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach and sports nutrition coordinator for Olympic sports at Marshall (2003-06).
Sanderson earned his bachelor’s degree in communication (2001) and master’s in sport sciences (2002) from Ohio University. He holds certifications as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA); Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (CSCC); Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (NSCA); United States Weightlifting Level 1 Club Coach (USAW); Functional Movement Systems Level 1 (FMS); Titleist Performance Institute Level 1 (TPI); Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES) and CPR/AED Certified (American Red Cross).
The Mansfield, Ohio, native played collegiately for Ohio State (1997-99) and Ohio (2000-02). He was the starting small forward on Ohio State’s 1999 Final Four squad.
