Mo Ba - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory - University of North Texas Athletics

Staff Directory

Mo Ba

Title:
Assistant Coach

Mo Ba was hired as UNT men’s basketball's assistant coach on April 28, 2025 to Daniyal Robinson's first staff.

In his first season in Denton (2025-26), Ba helped guide the Mean Green to a 19-14 overall record and a 9-9 league record. North Texas finished tied for fifth in the American Conference standings and reached the quarterfinals of the 2026 American Conference Tournament. UNT's 19 wins were the second-most in program history by a first-year Mean Green staff and its nine conference wins were also the second-most by a first-year UNT staff. North Texas' .576 win percentage was the second-best ever by a first-year UNT staff in its DI era and the best in 50 years.

UNT featured the league's top scoring defense, holding opponents to 67.4 points per game and racked up 308 steals on the year, which were the second-most in a single season in program history and third-most in American Conference history. UNT featured the second-best turnover margin in American Conference history (+3.7) and the third lowest turnover per game average in program history (11.3).

North Texas had notable victories throughout the season. On Jan. 4 they defeated Tulsa at home 72-67, snapping the Golden Hurricanes' then 10-game winning streak. At the time of the game, Tulsa was ranked No. 38 in the NET. It was UNT's highest ranked NET win since upsetting Purdue in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

The Mean Green also had notable wins over Memphis on Feb. 12, 76-69, Florida Atlantic on Feb. 22, 73-72, and at UAB on March 1, 62-58. North Texas also defeated FAU in its conference tournament opener, 74-70, continuing its streak of consecutive seasons with a conference tournament win to seven in a row.

Ba was critical in the development of sophomore guard Je'Shawn Stevenson who earned second-team American Conference All-Conference honors as he averaged 17.3 points per game and 2.0 steals per game. His 572 total points scored was the fourth-most in the league that year. Stevenson led UNT in 3-pointers with 74 and his 66 steals were the second most in program history and led the league that season.

Point guard David Terrell Jr. also had a breakout season. The then junior who came to UNT from UTEP set single season career highs in every statistical category and became just the second player in North Texas history to score 400 points (446) and have 150 assists (160) in a single season. Terrell's 160 total assists were the fourth most in a single season in program history.

Ba came to North Texas from Cleveland State where he served on Robinson’s staff as its director of player development. Robinson was hired as UNT’s head coach on April 4. Ba has also spent time in the NBA as well as Iowa State and Houston where he helped lead the Cyclones to the 2022 Sweet 16 and the Cougars to the 2021 Final Four.

In addition to working on Robinson’s staff at Cleveland State, Ba and Robinson overlapped at Iowa State in the 2021-22 season when Robinson was an assistant coach for the Cyclones.

In his one season at Cleveland State, the Vikings won 23 games, their most single season wins in 14 years. They finished second in the Horizon League and were the runner-ups in the College Basketball Invitational. They had nine all-conference honors. Ba was instrumental in the development of Horizon League freshman of the year Je’Shawn Stevenson and all-freshman team honoree Reece Robinson.

Ba spent time in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks where he served as the video and player development assistant during the 2023-24 season. In that role he was heavily involved in video breakdowns both in-game and post-game, creating highlight tapes to assist with scouting and team development throughout the season. He also assisted with conducting daily individual workouts for players as well as working in collaboration with the team’s G-League affiliate as needed.

He was at Iowa State from 2021-23 and was an assistant director of player development. He touched all areas of the Cyclones’ program throughout his tenure, assisting with recruiting, player development and scouting. While at Iowa State he coached Big-12 All-Conference honorees Izaiah Brockington, Gabe Kelscheur and 2022 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Tyrese Hunter and 2023 Big 12 All-Freshman Team guard Tamin Lipsey.

Ba served as a graduate manager at Houston for head coach Kelvin Sampson during the 2020-21 season. That year the Cougars went 28-4, won the conference championship and reached the Final Four for the first time in 37 years.

Ba holds a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University in communications in 2017 and a master’s degree in sports and fitness administration from Houston in 2022.