Ball State has named Clay Murray and Joao Mescolote to the coaching staff for the 2022-23 season, which recently got underway. The additions come after Ball State lost their assistant coach, Chris Bals, their graduate assistant, Geena Freriks, and their diving coach, Jacob Brehmer from last season’s staff. Bals has moved to Indiana State, in Terre Haute, where he is an assistant coach for the Sycamores. Geena Freriks, who was a star for Kentucky during her collegiate career, has returned to the Wildcats, now as an assistant coach. Brehmer has seemingly moved on from coaching for the time being, and at this time it’s unclear who is leading the diving program in Muncie.
Ball State head coach J. Agnew announced the additions of Murray and Mescolote, both young coaches with previous college coaching experience under their belts, on Thursday. Murray has been hired as an assistant coach, while Mescolote is the graduate assistant this season. Speaking on the hires, Agnew said “I am thrilled to welcome these bright, young minds to the Ball State family.”
Clay Murray comes to Muncie after serving as an assistant coach for DIII John Carroll University. At John Carroll, which notably has Ball State swimming alum Tanner Barton serving as head coach, Murray primarily operated as the distance coach. Last season, JCU won their 6th-straight Ohio Athletic Conference team title, then went on to finish 13th at DIII NCAAs. The JCU women’s team also won their 6th-straight OAC title, though they ultimately didn’t have any scorers at NCAAs.
Agnew notes that Murray has “a diverse set of skills,” including on-deck coaching, administrative, and recruiting experience.
Prior to his experience at John Carroll, Murray spent 2 seasons at Westminster College, where he competed collegiately himself. Murray was the primary sprint coach at Westminster, also serving as the recruiting coordinator, bringing in 39 student athletes over his 2 seasons with the team. He graduated from Westminster in 2019 as a 4-year letterwinner and a 2-time All-PAC selection.
Mescolote comes to Ball State as a graduate assistant after serving as graduate assistant at Concordia University Irvine last season. A native of Brazil, Mescolote was a member of the Brazilian Swimming Junior National Team in his youth. At Concordia last season, Mescolote worked primarily as a sprint coach, helping the men’s team to a PacWest Conference Championship.
Speaking on the hire, Agnew said “João adds a fresh perspective to our Cardinals program with his experience growing up swimming in Brazil, representing the LSU Tigers, and gaining coaching experience at Concordia University.” He also notes that Mescolote brings a “passion and knowledge” to the weight room and dryland.
Mescolote was a 3-time Brazilian Olympic Trials qualifier (2012, 2016, 2021) and a multi-time Brazilian national medalist. He was a 4-year letterwinner at LSU from 2014-2018, graduating as a program record holder in the 200 medley relay.
In the same paragraph it says Bals is now the assistant at Indiana State and that he left coaching.
Actually is says that Jake Brehmer is no longer coaching