Report: Ball State working to hire SMU assistant Chris Capko as next head coach
Ball State is working toward hiring SMU assistant Chris Capko to be its next head coach, per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. Capko has been SMU’s associate head coach since HC Andy Enfield took over the program ahead of the 2024-25 season.
SMU finished this season with a 20-14 overall record and an 8-10 mark in conference play. The Mustangs suffered a season-ending loss against Miami (OH) in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
In his first season on SMU’s staff, Capko helped the Mustangs reach the second round of the NIT. Prior to coaching at SMU, Capko spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at USC.
In his eight seasons at USC, the program posted a 176-93 record and made four trips to the NCAA Tournament. Most notably, the Trojans made a run to the Elite Eight in the 2020-21 season.
In both 2024 and 2025, Chris Capko was named one of the top “Power 5 assistants” in the country by The Athletic and one of the 50 Most Impactful high major assistant coaches by Silver Waves Media. Before entering coaching, Capko played college basketball at Florida and USF.
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Ball State is searching for a new head coach after firing Michael Lewis, who’d been the Cardinals’ head man since the 2022-23 season. In his four seasons at the helm of the program, Lewis led Ball State to a 61-64 record and a 32-44 mark in conference play. Ball State never reached the NCAA Tournament under Lewis.
“We are grateful to Coach Lewis for the passion and commitment he brought to our program the past four years,” athletic director Jeff Mitchell said in a statement. “We appreciate the time and effort he invested in our student-athletes.”
Now, Ball State is hoping to find momentum as it enters a new era. The program hasn’t appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2000, and it has only had eight total March Madness appearances.
Ball State finished this season in seventh place in the MAC standings. Sophomore guard Davion Hill led the team with 14.0 points per game. Junior guard Armoni Zeigler trailed closely behind, averaging 12.5 points per outing. They were the only players on the team who averaged double figures.