Jon Ekey completed his sixth season (2021-22) at SMU, his fourth as Video Coordinator after two seasons as a graduate manager.
In his six seasons at SMU, the Mustangs have won The American regular season, the AAC Tournament, made the NCAA tournament and the NIT twice. The Mustangs have garnered two American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors and an AAC Sixth Man of the Year award. SMU has a total of 13 All-AAC selections. The Mustangs have had five players from that time in the NBA (Sterling Brown, Feron Hunt, Shake Milton, Ben Moore, Semi Ojeleye) with several others playing professionally throughout the world.
Ekey joined the professional basketball ranks in 2014, when he joined the Saitama Broncos in Saitama, Japan. As a starting forward, Ekey earned the team’s Most Important Player award. Off the court, Ekey assisted with day-to-day operations, providing player development feedback and scouting reports to coaches.
In a single-season at Illinois (2013-14), Ekey played in all 35 games and started 23 times. He finished the season ranked third on the team in rebounding (4.8 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.3 ppg). Ekey earned a Big Ten newcomer of the week accolade and four team honors, including the TNT Award, Matt Heldman "Matto" Award, 6th-Man Award and Orange Krush 3-Point Shooting Award.
Under the helm of head coach Tim Jankovich at Illinois State, Ekey totaled 668 points and 432 rebounds in 99 games over three seasons, and was a career 36.5-percent 3-point shooter (112-307). He ranks sixth on the ISU single-season blocked shots list with 52, and seventh on the ISU all-time career blocked shots list with 110. During his tenure at Illinois State, he helped the team to two NIT appearances and earned Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team honors in 2011. Academically, he was a five time Missouri Valley Scholar Athlete of the Week, a First-Team All-Missouri Valley Scholar Athlete, and a Second-Team All Missouri Valley Scholar-Athlete.
Prior to joining the Mustangs, Ekey lived in Missouri where he was the owner of Ekey Brothers, LLC, a varsity assistant basketball coach at Van Horn High School, and a substitute teacher for Independence School District.
Ekey graduated from Illinois State in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. A year later (2014) he received a master's degree in sport management from Illinois, graduating with a 3.65 GPA. In May 2018, he graduated from SMU with a master's degree in liberal studies.
