Franciscan University Barons Athletics

Wallace is entering his ninth season at Franciscan in the 2024-25 season. He has grown the program by leaps and bounds over the last seven seasons, as they transition to the PAC conference for the 2020-21 season. 

Joe Wallace is the fourth head coach in the Division III era of Franciscan basketball. Wallace began his tenure in Steubenville beginning with the 2016-17 season and has seen growth with the program over the last four seasons.

During the 2023-24 season, the Barons won three non-conference games during the fall semester, including a 106-103 win over Penn State Shenango in triple overtime. Franciscan beat five different PAC opponents throughout the season. Sawyer Butler was named PAC Newcomer of the Year, as he led the team with 15 points per game and 64 steals.

The 2022-23 season was up and down, as the Barons would not be able to practice or play in Finnegan Fieldhouse until early December. The Barons just missed the playoffs, as Travis Lien led the way by averaging 17.9 ppg. Off the court, they excelled with the second highest team GPA on campus for the 2023 spring semester.

In the 2021-22 season, the Barons held a 10-16 record, including another First Round PAC Playoff win over Bethany. Sean Hickey was named Second Team All-PAC and Josh Zimmerman was named All-PAC Honorable Mention. The team broke nearly every single offensive team statistic, and Sean Hickey jumped up to 3rd All-time in scoring with 1,692 career points. 

The 2020-21 season was shortened to just a conference-only schedule, and it was played all in the calendar year 2021. The Barons went 2-7 in their first taste of PAC league play. In the first round of the PAC Tournament they downed #9 Bethany to earn their first PAC postseason victory, by scoring a program record 104 points. Sean Hickey would go on to earn Second Team All-PAC Honors for his play this season.

2019-20 season was an up and down ride, as the Barons posted a 10-15 record. Their 9-10 record in the AMCC was not enough to return to the playoffs. Their biggest win of the year, and arguably in program history came against La Roche, who came to Steubenville undefeated in the AMCC and hadn't lost a conference matchup in a year and a half. Sean Hickey drained a three with under five seconds to play that gave the Barons a one point victory.

Wallace made another jump in year three, 2018-19, by going 13-14 and earning a trip to the AMCC playoffs. 13 wins is the most in the DIII era. They went 9-9 in the AMCC, setting another DIII record for most conference wins. Franciscan lost to #3 Medaille in the first round of the AMCC tournament, but they did earn a birth in the ECAC Tournament.

In 2017-18, the Barons finished with five wins, including a win over Washington & Jefferson for the first time in program history. Franciscan dropped its scoring defense by 7.4 points and shrunk the scoring margin by 2.9 points. Sophomore Matt Trent set the Division III era season rebound record as he finished 2017-18 with 230, including 139 defensive boards.

In his first year at the helm, Wallace led the Barons to four wins while the team dropped its scoring defense by 5.8 points from the previous season. Following the season, Keoni Sablan was named to the NABC Honors Court.

Wallace has had three players earn all conference honors in his first four seasons at Franciscan.

Wallace is a Wheeling, West Virginia, native who returned to the Ohio Valley after an extensive career in NCAA Division I athletics.

Prior to coming to Steubenville, Wallace served as the director of basketball operations at Division I San Jose State University in San Jose, California, where he oversaw all team travel and assisted with day-to-day opponent scouting and coaching.

During his time at SJSU, the Spartans increased their overall win total by seven from the previous season and their Mountain West win total by four.

Before joining San Jose State, Wallace was an assistant coach at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, for the 2013-14 season after serving as the director of basketball operations during the 2012-13 season. While with the Cougars, he helped transition the program into the Colonial Athletic Association. He was instrumental in installing and managing a state-of-the-art XOS video editing system, which he used to create detailed opponent scouting reports for the Cougars.

Wallace began his collegiate coaching career under Doug Wojcik at the University of Tulsa in July 2006. He first joined the Golden Hurricane staff as the director of Player Development and graduate manager from 2006-2009 before becoming the director of Basketball Operations from 2010-2012. During his time at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricanes were CBI champions in 2008 and played in the NIT postseason tournament in 2009 and 2010.

Wallace coached and developed three NBA players at Tulsa, including Jordan Clarkson (Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz), Ben Uzoh (New Jersey Nets, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers), and Jerome Jordan (New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Toronto Raptors).

Wallace earned a degree in social science in 2005 from West Liberty University where he was a two-year letter winner in football.

Year by Year Results at Franciscan

Updated 9/25/24