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OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - MARCH 19: Head coach Scott Cross of the Troy Trojans reacts against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Paycom Center on March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
One day after Troy lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Georgia Tech announced that they had hired Troy head coach Scott Cross as the new head man on the Flats. Cross has 19 years of coaching experience at UT Arlington and Troy and is coming off two straight seasons of winning the Sun Belt Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
Scott Cross started his college career by playing four seasons at guard with the UT Arlington Mavericks. Following his graduation, he joined the coaching staff at UT Arlington. He coached as an assistant for them for 9 seasons under his former coach Eddie McCarter. When McCarter resigned following the 2005-06 season, Cross was promoted to the top spot. His 12 seasons there were inarguably the best stretch in UT Arlington history. In his second season the Mavericks went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time (and still only time) despite being one of only two times that they finished under .500 in the conference. His 2011-12 season was notable with the team finishing with a 24-9 record (15-1 in conference), but lost in the conference tournament. During his tenure, UT Arlington switched conference — going from the Southland to the Wac to the Sun Belt. Cross handled the tougher conferences very well going 37-19 in the Sun Belt in his final three seasons in Arlington. Despite the success (especially at the end of his tenure) he was unable to win the conference tournaments and make the NCAA Tournament. After the 2017-18 season the Mavericks fired Cross. They have not reached that level of success since.
Following his firing, Cross stayed in the Dallas area by getting a job as an assistant for Jamie Dixon at TCU. After 2 seasons in Fort Worth, Cross was hired by Troy, a former conference foe, in 2019. Things got off to a very rocky start in his first two seasons in Alabama, but in his third season, the Trojans took off. They put together three straight solid seasons, but were unable to make the tournament. Then, in his final two seasons Troy broke through winning both the Sun Belt regular season and conference tournament. In 2025 they lost as a 14-seed to Kentucky and this year they lost to Nebraska as a 13-seed.
All in all I think this is a solid hire. He has a good (but not great) record of success as a college head coach which is more than our last three hires could say. He is almost certainly the best coach in history at both schools he has coached at*. On the downside, he’s had some bad years at both schools that he coached which is a bit worrying. I was also worried about him being fired from UT Arlington despite seeming to have a good resume. I looked for information online. National sources tended to be confused by the firing. The few things I was able to find from UT Arlington fans seem to point to the Athletic Director deciding that Cross was holding the Mavericks back from being the Gonzaga of Texas. And he was wildly incorrect. Probably the most encouraging thing is that his best success has come in the last few seasons. The game has totally changed in the last 5 seasons with NIL and unlimited transfers. Cross hasn’t just handled the change well, he’s excelled. I am excited to see if he can continue that momentum in Atlanta.
Welcome to the Flats Coach Cross!
*I am only counting Troy’s time in Division 1
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