Neil Epstein joined Coach Johnson as an assistant for the SVC men’s basketball team before the start of the 2018-19 season.

Epstein was most recently the head coach For Believe Sports Academy’s B Team in Athens, Tennessee, as well as the assistant coach for the national post-grad team. Coach Epstein took over the team with a 0-9 record, and his squad finished 14-13 as his first year as a head coach. He handled all day-to-day basketball operations for the team—as well teaching SAT prep, organizing game transportation, facilitating player recruitment, and being a dorm parent. Coach Epstein helped with the development and recruitment of many student-athletes at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, junior college, and NAIA levels—such as Dexter Dennis (Wichita state), Cody Jude (UNC Ashville), Tae Hardy (Eastern Carolina University), Jason Preston (Ohio University), and Prince Shimba (Howard University).

Epstein a Silver Spring, Maryland native, graduated from Frostburg State University in 2017 with a degree in Liberal Studies—concentrating in Health and Physical Education. He served as a student manager for three years for the men’s basketball program and helped with game and practice management, individual workouts, and tasks for the coaching staff. As a senior at Frostburg, Coach Epstein served as a student assistant coach. His responsibilities included breaking down film, player development, recruiting, developing scouting reports on opponents, and presenting those reports to the players prior to game time.

Epstein served on a staff that claimed six conference wins in 2016-17—including an upset over the 11th-ranked team in the country, Salisbury University, in the final game of the season. He was also instrumental in the development of junior Tyler Michael who was named to the All-Capital Athletic Conference Second Team (16.5 ppg).

Immediately following graduation, Epstein spent the summer of 2017 coaching Saint Mary’s Ryken High School in Leonardtown, Maryland—a member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). He served as the head JV coach for the summer league—guiding his team to the semi-finals.