Keene State’s Ryan Cain will trade his Owl feathers for JHU Blue and become the next head men’s basketball coach at Johns Hopkins.

• Coaching moves: Men | Women
• From the archive: Keene State lifts Cain’s interim tag (May 2016)

"As we had hoped, we had an exceptionally high level of interest in this position and Ryan quickly elevated himself among a talented and diverse group of candidates,” said JHU Director of Athletics Jennifer Baker in the University’s press release.

“While his proven record of success at the national level was obvious from the outset, it was his ability to connect with members of our selection committee and student-athletes and share a vision of Blue Jay basketball that aligns perfectly with the goals and aspirations we have for the program that truly set him apart.”

Cain led Keene State to a 28-2 record – its best mark in program history -- and Top 10 national ranking this past season, before falling to Swarthmore in the NCAA Division III Tournament sectional semifinals. Overall, Cain went 146-66 in eight seasons with five NCAA Tournament appearances and won Little East Conference Coach of the year twice (2019 and 2023).

Before landing at Keene State, Cain was an assistant coach for eight seasons at his alma mater WPI. Cain is the Engineers all-time scoring leader (1,813), won the 2007 Jostens Trophy and graduated with a civil engineering degree. WPI went 89-20 during Cain’s four years as a player and 174-47 in his eight years as a coach.

Cain replaces Josh Loeffler who was similarly successful during his tenure at Johns Hopkins. Loeffler, who went 114-27 in five seasons at JHU, took an assistant coaching spot at Division I Cincinnati. The Blue Jays went 25-5 and finished last season ranked No 12, two spots behind Cain’s Owls.

Meanwhile, Keene State will look for just its third coach in 25 years. Rob Colbert led the Owls for 16 seasons and won 284 games before leaving the program in 2015. Cain took over as interim and then was named head coach in May 2016.

Both teams will be in the mix for a national ranking again this fall. According to the University’s release, Johns Hopkins expects to return two of its top three scorers and four players who started at least 19 games. Keene State, which will travel to the 2023 Small College Basketball Champions Classic, is expected to return All-Americans Jeff Hunter and Octavio Britto. Hunter was the 2022-23 Region 2 Player of the Year.