Jon Trilli returns to ACU as an assistant coach in 2020-21 after serving as special assistant to head coach Joe Golding during the 2018-19 season. Trilli was a key part of the coaching staff that helped lead the Wildcats to their first Southland Conference tournament championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament. He helped to lead the Wildcats back to the NCAA tournament in 2021 where they upset No. 3 Texas in the first round, 53-52.
Trilli left ACU to serve as an assistant coach at Odessa College in 2019-20 where he helped lead the Wranglers to a 14-16 record and 7-9 mark in conference play.
Coach Trilli originally came to ACU after a stint as the Director of Basketball Operations at North Texas. Trilli arrived at North Texas after spending two seasons at Arkansas Little Rock under head coach Wes Flanigan. Trilli spent the 2015-16 season as the director of basketball operations and the 2014-15 season as the video coordinator at UALR.
Trilli went to Little Rock in September 2015 after spending the previous seven years at Midwestern State. After three years as a member of the basketball team, he spent two seasons on the MSU staff as a graduate assistant before serving as a second assistant in his final two years.
Between his time at Little Rock and MSU, Trilli has gone to eight straight NCAA Tournaments, with each of those teams advancing beyond the first round. Over the same span, those teams have won regular-season championships in six of eight years.
He helped the Mustangs to three regular-season Lone Star Conference Championships and four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances while on staff. In his first season at Little Rock, the Trojans won a program-record 30 games while winning Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships before earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
As a student-athlete, Trilli attended Garden City Community College as a freshman before going on to earn three letters on the Midwestern State men's basketball team. He led the Mustangs to consecutive NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and 2011. MSU's national ranking rose as high as No. 3 in the 2009-10 season as the Mustangs won a program-record 31 games.
Trilli's father, Vic, is the Director of Athletics and Vice President of Student Affairs at Newman University. He served as head men's basketball coach at North Texas from 1997-01 and Lon Morris College from 1981-89.
Trilli earned his Bachelor of Science in Sport and Fitness Management and Master of Education in Sports Administration in 2015, both from Midwestern State.
