Travis Steele enters his second season as head men’s basketball coach at Miami University.
In his debut campaign, Steele led the RedHawks to a 12-20 season and a berth in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed. The Red and White won four consecutive games in February to qualify for the postseason after being picked 11th in the preseason poll, including a 17-point win over rival Ohio in the RedHawks’ final home game of the year.
Miami’s Mekhi Lairy was tabbed Third Team All-MAC in 2021-22, while newcomer Anderson Mirambeaux was named Honorable Mention All-MAC after his scoring average jumped from 1.5 points per game at Cleveland State to 14.3 ppg as a RedHawk. Rookie guard Ryan Mabrey was also named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team.
Lairy finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in free throw percentage and games played, and tri-captains Lairy, Mirambeaux and Morgan Safford all ranked among the top 20 scorers in the conference (combining to average 47 points per game).
Steele became the 28th men’s basketball head coach in Miami history on March 31, 2022 after completing a four-year stint as the head coach at rival Xavier University. He posted a 70-50 mark with Xavier and led the Musketeers to two postseason berths.
“Travis Steele brings with him an exceptional recruiting pedigree and results,” said Director of Athletics David Sayler. “He also brings unmatched energy, a CEO-like-vision for where Miami Basketball can and should go, and a relentless work ethic to match that vision. He is the right person to raise our program to the next level and put us back in the upper echelon of the Mid-American Conference and beyond.”
In addition to recruiting two nationally-ranked classes among the top 20 as head coach, each of Steele’s student-athletes graduated during his time at Xavier. As an assistant at XU, he also helped secure two top-10 nationally-ranked recruiting classes, made four NCAA Tournament appearances—twice advancing to the Sweet Sixteen—and won a conference championship.
Steele has coached at the high school, AAU, junior college and Division I levels. He has held nearly every role on a staff – from volunteer, to graduate assistant, to assistant coach, to video coordinator, to director of operations to head coach.
He was hired as the director of basketball operations at Xavier in 2008 before being elevated to assistant coach in 2009 and then associate head coach in 2015, and ultimately, head coach in 2018. Prior to Xavier, Steele worked on the staff at Indiana University. He joined the Hoosiers in August of 2006, taking on the duties of video coordinator. He also served as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Wabash Valley College (2005-06) and spent a year with the Ohio State basketball program as a graduate manager (2004-05) under Thad Matta.
From 2001-06, Steele was a coach for the Spiece/Indiana Adidas Elite AAU Basketball program. Steele also was an assistant varsity coach at Ben Davis High School while attending Butler University. He earned his undergraduate degree in business from Butler, where he graduated cum laude in marketing in 2004.
Steele, the brother of current University of Akron head coach John Groce, was born Nov. 12, 1981 in Danville, Indiana. He and his wife Amanda reside in Cincinnati with their children, Aspen, Winston, and Anderson.