Joe Kuligoski joined the Bearkats in the summer of 2025 after having spent the previous two seasons as the head coach at Panola College in Carthage where he took the team to unprecedented success.
While at Panola, Kuligoski guided the Ponies to their first-ever Region XIV Conference Tournament championship, its first Final Four appearance in school history as the team earned back-to-back national tournament berths. In 2024, Panola set a school record with 29 wins and were ranked among the top five nationally in defense for the second straight season.
Over just two years, Kuligoski coached three NJCAA All-Americans, and 10 of his players went on to compete at the NCAA Division I level.
Kuligoski joined Panola in 2022 as an assistant coach under Mike Nesbitt. That season, the team posted 28 wins and swept the North Zone of Region XIV Conference play, both program firsts.
Before Panola, Kuligoski spent two seasons (2020–2022) as an assistant coach at Highland Community College. There, the Cougars won their conference championship both years and earned wins over nationally ranked programs, including Triton College and Indian Hills.
Kuligoski began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Central Florida (2018–2020), working under head coach Johnny Dawkins and assistant coach Robbie Laing. During his first season, UCF earned an at-large NCAA Tournament bid and lost to Duke by just one point in the Round of 32. While at UCF, he also helped with player development for NBA center Tacko Fall and international pro Aubrey Dawkins.
As a player, Kuligoski played for Jax State and later Eastern Illinois, both members of the Ohio Valley Conference at the time. He is a graduate of Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois, where he earned all-conference and all-area honors his senior year.
