Dustin Kerns enters his seventh season on the Terrier coaching staff and fourth as associate head coach. With the Terriers, Kerns assists with on-court coaching, opponent scouting, and recruiting. This is his second stint at Wofford, previously serving as an assistant coach from 2004-07. In the six seasons between, he was an assistant coach at Santa Clara University.
Since returning to Wofford's campus, Kerns has helped lead the Terriers to back-to-back Southern Conference Tournament championships in 2014 and 2015, as well as a regular season title in 2014-15. Along with their two conference tournament titles, the Terriers made consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, which included a narrow 56-53 loss in 2015 to No. 5-seeded Arkansas, a game which Wofford led for more than 20 minutes. Wofford has compiled an overall record of 63-37 (.630) in Kerns's three seasons back, including a 38-14 (.731) mark in Southern Conference games and a 6-1 record in SoCon Tournament play. Head coach Mike Young has been named Southern Conference Coach of the Year twice since Kerns's return in 2013, and the team has graduated 100 percent of its student-athletes every year Kerns has been affiliated with the program.
Kerns has received national recognition as one of college basketball's top assistant coaches and recruiters. CoachStat.net ranked Kerns the No. 4 Low-Major Recruiter in the nation, as well as its No. 20 Mid-Major Assistant Coaches. CollegeInsider.com recently featured Kerns in its article "30 Assistants Ready to Run their own Programs," stating that he’s been integral to the solid foundation built by coach Mike Young for one of the Southern Conference’s elite programs.
In 2015-16, Kerns helped coach Wofford through a non-conference schedule that included the likes of Missouri, Georgia Tech, Clemson, then-No. 23 Vanderbilt and eventual national runner-up North Carolina. The Terriers were featured in the College Basketball Experience Hall of Fame Classic through their first four games, including a slim, nine-point, season-opening loss at Mizzou. Five days later, the Terriers put up a strong fight in their first game against a No. 1-ranked team in program history. Wofford trailed UNC by just five, 34-29, at halftime and limited the Tar Heels to just 1-of-9 from 3-point range, in what was also the program's first game at the Dean Dome.
Eventually, Wofford would finish the 2015-16 season third in the Southern Conference standings at 11-7, marking three conseutive winning seasons in SoCon play since Kerns's return. The season was also witness to the emergence of a Kerns recruit, Fletcher Magee, who went on to be named Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and National Mid-Major Freshman of the Year by College Court Report. Magee led the nation with a 92.5-percent mark from the free throw line and was third in the country in 3-point shooting at 47.9 percent, all while average 13.8 points per game. Magee's freshman season saw him knock down 91 triples – third-most in program history – including a 9-for-10 effort from deep on Feb. 8. Magee's performance helped Wofford finish the game 17-of-21 (81 pct.) from beyond the arc, setting a new NCAA Div. I single-game record for 3-point field goal percentage (min. 20 attempts).
Kerns was a part of Wofford's best season in program history in 2014-15. The Terriers went 28-7, 16-2 SoCon, posting the program's most wins and conference wins in a single season. Wofford did so against a non-conference strength of schedule that ranked 26th in the nation. The Terriers traveled to eventual national champion Duke, Sweet 16 teams West Virginia and NC State, as well as eventual NIT champion Stanford. Wofford defeated NC State at Reynolds Coliseum, 55-54, handing the Wolfpack their first loss at their former historic home since 1999. After winning their fourth SoCon Tournament title in six years, the Terriers earned a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and faced No. 5 seed Arkansas in the West Region in Jacksonville, Fla. Wofford led 28-27 at the half and held a lead for over 20 minutes before falling in a thriller, 56-53. The Terriers received votes in the final AP Poll and completed the season ranked No. 49 in the final RPI.
In his first year back on campus in 2013-14, Kerns helped guide the Terriers to their third Southern Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth in the last five seasons. Wofford posted a 20-win season of 20-13, including a nine-game winning streak from Jan. 20 - Feb. 20. The Terriers rolled off three straight wins over The Citadel, Georgia Southern and Western Carolina to win the SoCon Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The team earned a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament and faced off against No. 2-seeded Michigan in the Second Round at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The six seasons prior to his return to Wofford, Kerns was an assistant coach at Santa Clara University. During those six seasons, Santa Clara had the third most wins in the WCC behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. Kerns helped the Broncos post 24+ victories for the second time in three years in 2012-13. Collecting a 26-12 record, the Broncos won the College Basketball Invitational post-season tournament after winning the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2011. The Broncos final RPI was No. 68 and record-wise, they claimed the biggest turnaround in Division I basketball that year. The 26 wins were just one shy of the school record set by the 1968-69 team who collected 27 wins.
Santa Clara won 26 games in 2012-13 after winning 21 regular season games for the first time in almost 20 years on the Mission campus. Kerns was essential to the Broncos run, helping coach two first-team All-WCC members in 2013 in Marc Trasolini and Kevin Foster, the second-all-time leading scorer in West Coast Conference history. In addition to their success on the court, every player graduated during his six seasons at Santa Clara.
All told the Broncos combined to break 22 school and WCC records in 2012-13. Foster broke the all-time WCC record for threes made, finishing tied for fourth in Division I history with 431. In addition to winning the CBI, the Broncos broke eight individual career records and five individual season records. As a team the Broncos broke eight season records as well. They also led the West Coast Conference in two team categories and two individual categories overall and two team categories and three individual categories in league games.
Kerns also helped lead the Broncos to one of their most successful seasons in 2010-11, finishing the season with 24 victories and winning the CollegeInsider.com Post-Season Tournament Championship. Foster was named to the All-WCC First Team and an NABC All-District honoree; Evan Roquemore was named to the Freshman All-WCC Team and Troy Payne was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2011, the Broncos also set eight team records, seven individual season records, two individual career records and four freshman individual records in 2010-11. Foster, who averaged a WCC-leading 20.2 ppg in 2010-11, was named by CollegeInsider.com to the Mid-Major All-America Team and the WCC’s Most Valuable Player. His 140 three’s were No. 1 nationally and No. 9 all-time in the NCAA. Both Foster and Trasolini scored their 1000th point during the year.
Prior to becoming an assistant coach on Coach Keating’s staff Kerns served as Director of Basketball Operations at Santa Clara for one season. Kerns joined the Broncos in 2007 from Wofford College, where he spent three seasons as an assistant coach.
During his tenure at Wofford, Kerns helped the Terriers set a school record for single season wins, en route to the school’s best overall record at the Division I level at that time. In addition, Wofford posted wins at Auburn and Cincinnati in those three seasons. Tyler Berg and Shane Nichols were both All-Southern Conference selections at Wofford with Junior Salters being named to the all-conference freshman team in 2006-07. His responsibilities included on-floor coaching, recruiting, scouting, team travel, camp director and working with the perimeter players. The 2005 and 2006 recruiting classes went on to win back to back Southern Conference Championships. Those recruiting classes included Noah Dahlman who became Wofford’s only SoCon Player of the Year, and All Southern Conference Players Junior Salters and Tim Johnson. Â
Prior to joining Mike Young’s staff at Wofford, Kerns spent a season as a graduate assistant under then-head coach Buzz Peterson at Tennessee. The Vols earned a berth in the NIT that season. Kerns was camp and coaching clinic director during his time in Knoxville, while assisting with team scouting, compliance and academics. He received a Masters of Science from Tennessee in 2004.
Kerns’ first job in college basketball was at Tennessee Tech, as he spent the 2002-03 season as the program’s Director of Basketball Operations. He assisted head coach Mike Sutton with all aspects of the program, including opponent scouting, on-campus recruiting, scheduling, film exchange and team academics. The team won 20 games that season and reached the Ohio Valley Championship game.
Kerns is a 2002 graduate of Clemson University, where he earned a degree in secondary education. As an undergraduate, he worked as an student assistant for Tigers men’s basketball team under then-head coach Larry Shyatt, helping organize summer camps, while also assisting with the scout films. Kerns was hired to coach at the prestigious Michael Jordan Flight School three summers in a row during 2001-2003.Â
A Kingsport, Tennessee native, Kerns played at Dobyns-Bennett High School, which ranks first in the nation in all time wins at the prep level.
Kerns is married to the former Brittany Wright and they welcomed their first child, Emory Sulianne, on October 19, 2011.
