Travis Steele - Men's Basketball Coach - Miami University RedHawks

Travis Steele

Title:
Head Coach
Phone:
513-529-1650

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Full Name: Travis Steele
Alma Mater: Butler, '04
Wife: Amanda
Children: Anderson, Winston and Aspen

COACHING EXPERIENCE:
2008: Indiana, Assistant Coach
2008-09: Xavier, Director of Basketball Operations
2009-15: Xavier, Assistant Coach
2015-18: Xavier, Associate Head Coach
2018-22: Xavier, Head Coach
2022-PR: Miami, Head Coach

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE:
2007-08: NCAA First Round
2018-19: NIT Second Round
2021-22: NIT Champions

CAREER COACHING RECORD:

Year	Record	Pct.	Conf.	Pct.	Finish
2018-19	19-16	.543	9-9	.500	4th
2019-20	19-13	.594	8-10	.444	7th
2020-21	13-8	.619	6-7	.462	7th
2021-22	19-13	.594	8-11	.421	8th
2022-23	12-20	.375	6-12	.333	8th
2023-24	15-17	.469	9-9	.500	7th
2024-25	25-9	.735	14-4	.778	2nd
Career	122-96	.560	60-62	.492

Travis Steele enters his fourth season as head men’s basketball coach at Miami University.

Last season, he led the Red and White to a new school record of 25 wins and finished the regular season with the program's most MAC wins (14-4) since 2005-06. The RedHawks secured the second seed in the 2025 MAC Tournament and reached their first MAC Tournament championship game since 2006-07. Miami increased its win total by 10 from the previous year, the largest single-season turnaround since 1983-84. Steele saw three of his players earn All-MAC honors, including Peter Suder, who received First-Team All-MAC honors (the first since Julian Mavunga in 2012), and Brant Byers, who earned MAC Freshman of the Year (the first since Nike Sibande in 2018).

Steele saw massive improvements from the RedHawks offensively and defensively during the 2024-25 season. The Red and White increased its scoring average from 70.6 in year two to 80.6 points/game in year three (second best points/game in the MAC). Miami led the MAC in team field goal percentage (0.481), team three-point field goal percentage (0.397), turnover margin (2.00) and steals per game (8.00). The RedHawks didn't stop there, as they set program records for total points in a season (2,740), field goals in a season (985), three-point field goals in a season (363) and assists in a season (550).

In year two, Steele returned to the MAC Tournament for the second consecutive season as the RedHawks claimed the seventh seed. Miami won 15 games overall, its most since 2018-19, including nine conference victories (most since the 2020-21 campaign). The RedHawks defeated two NCAA Tournament teams in the 2023-24 season (Vermont and Akron). Under Steele’s guidance, Darweshi Hunter and Anderson Mirambeaux earned Honorable Mention All-MAC, while Eian Elmer was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.

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.