USF Athletics

Scott Wagers joined the USF men's basketball staff as an assistant coach on March 25, 2017 and transitioned to a new role as director of recruiting and scouting ahead of the 2021-22 season.

In just his second season with the team in 2018-19, Wagers helped USF to the top win turnaround in the NCAA during the 2018-19 season, as the Bulls won 14 more games than the previous season. In addition, USF turned in a 24-14 overall record to set a new single-season school record for wins. The Bulls would go on to win the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship and claim the program’s first postseason title since 1990.

Wagers also played an instrumental role in the development of 2019 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year Laquincy Rideau and 2019 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Alexis Yetna. Rideau and guard David Collins were also selected to the All-AAC Third Team to become the first two USF players in school history to be named all-conference in The American. Collins went on to set the program and AAC record for career free throws (493) and finished ranked seventh in South Florida history for scoring (1,540).

Wagers helped USF become one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA during the 2019-20 season, finishing the year ranked 20th in scoring defense by allowing only 62.7 points per game. The Bulls limited eight teams to fewer than 60 points during the season and held 27 of their 31 opponents under their scoring average at the time of play. The Bulls also ranked 44th in the nation in turnovers forced with 15.6 per game, and stood 65th in the NCAA in steals with 7.5 thefts per game.

The defensive-minded Bulls ranked second in the AAC and 45th in the NCAA in scoring defense in 2021-22 (64.9 ppg).

A highly successful recruiter in Hillsborough County and the state of Florida, Wagers was an assistant coach at Jacksonville University (2014-17) before joining Gregory at USF. He also served five seasons as head coach at Robinson High School (1994-99) in Tampa, leading the Knights to four divisional championships and two regional championships.

In his three seasons at Jacksonville, Wagers helped the Dolphins post back-to-back winning seasons and also notched a 13-game home winning streak, the program’s longest such stretch in 42 years. He served as an assistant coach on the Lamar Cardinals staff in the 2013-14 season.

Wagers began his collegiate coaching career at East Tennessee State in 2000-01. During his 13 years in Johnson City, Wagers helped the Buccaneers earn six postseason berths, including four NCAA tournament appearances, and five regular season conference titles.

While at Robinson High School, Wagers led the Knights to the 1997-98 Florida High School state semifinals. The Knights were recognized as the St. Petersburg Times/Tampa Tribune Team of the Year and Wagers was named the Tampa Bay Basketball Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year.

In the early 1990s, he was a head coach of Washburn High School (Tenn.) and earned the Tennessee Athletic Coaches’ Association District 1A Coach of the Year award in 1993-94.

Additionally, Wagers was recognized by Nike Villa 7 as one of the Top 60 assistant coaches in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball in 2011. He was only one of two mid-major coaches in the country to appear on the list.

A student-athlete himself, Wagers played college basketball at Tennessee Wesleyan and graduated in 1989 with a B.S. in Health and Physical Education.

Scott and his wife, Stacey, have two children, Luke and Lola.

Coaching Timeline