University of Missouri Athletics

Ryan Sharbaugh is in his fourth season with the Missouri men’s basketball program, joining the Tigers as an assistant coach after spending three years with head coach Dennis Gates at Cleveland State.

Serving as the program’s defensive coordinator, Sharbaugh helped Mizzou to two of its most successful seasons in more than a decade. The Tigers have twice earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, including the program’s first postseason win in 13 years with the 2023 invitation.

The Mizzou defense has ranked among the nation’s best under Sharbaugh’s watch, twice leading all power-conference schools in steals during his three years on the sideline. The 2022-23 campaign saw the Tigers place second nationally with 10.2 swipes per game, while leading all teams in the nation with a turnover margin of +5.8. Mizzou added a second season ranked in the country’s top 15 in steals, placing 12th during the 2024-25 campaign at 9.4 steals per game.

Individually, Sharbaugh played a key role in the development of D’Moi Hodge at both Mizzou and Cleveland State. In his one season with the Tigers, Hodge was named a finalist for the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year after setting a school record (and ranking fourth nationally) with 91 swipes. Tre Gomillion and Hodge were also named the 2021 and 2022 Horizon League Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, under his watch at Cleveland State before Hodge would sign a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Lakers following his graduation.

Most recently, Sharbaugh helped develop Anthony Robinson II as he earned SEC All-Defensive Team accolades – the only underclassman on the team in 2024-25 and the first underclassman in school history to earn the accolade.

Prior to joining the Tigers, Sharbaugh spent three seasons with Gates turning Cleveland State into the premier program of the Horizon League. He helped the Vikings win back-to-back regular-season titles in 2021 and 2022 with CSU also claiming the tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid in 2021.

Sharbaugh’s first taste of championship success was at Bradley from 2016 to 2019 as the school’s Director of Basketball Operations – joining a program that won just five games prior to his arrival and finishing with back-to-back 20-win campaigns and the school’s first Missouri Valley Conference title in 31 seasons in 2019.

Overall, Sharbaugh has helped three different schools earn a total of four NCAA Tournament bids in the last seven seasons.

Sharbaugh joined Bradley following two seasons as a graduate assistant at Florida State on Leonard Hamilton's staff. During his time with the Seminoles, FSU featured a top-20 NBA Draft pick in Malik Beasley, landed a pair of top-10 recruiting classes and advanced to the second round of the NIT in 2016. He also enjoyed assistant coaching stints at Urbana University (2012-14) and West Virginia Wesleyan College (2011-12), while serving as a graduate assistant at California University (Pa.) from 2009 to 2011.

A 2008 graduate of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, Sharbaugh has earned master's degrees from both California University and Florida State.  

Sharbaugh and his wife, Marianna, have two sons – Sutton and Banner.