Ben Tanoff is entering his four year at Ellsworth Community College (ECC) after being hired as an assistant coach during the summer of 2022. His responsibilities with the program include everything from scouting and player development to coordinating academics and daily operations. In the course of Tanoff’s tenure with the Panthers, ECC men’s basketball has reached unprecedented new heights highlighted by:

• The 2024 Region XI tournament championship (the first such championship for ECC men’s basketball in 38 years)
• Reaching the 2024 NJCAA DII final four (the first appearance for ECC men’s basketball in 47 years)
• 2 All-Americans Shawn Fulcher (2023) and Mobi Ikegwuruka (2024) (the first All-Americans for the program in ten years)
• Sending 10 student-athletes to the NCAA DI level (the most such signees by an NJCAA DII school over this time period)

On the court, Tanoff’s primary focus and area of expertise are team defense and guard development. During the 2024-25 season ECC boasted the best three-point percentage defense in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) which was also good enough to be a top 15 defensive statistic in the country. The Panthers additionally led the ICCAC in offensive, defensive, & total rebounds per game. The offensive and total rebounding statistics landed the Panther’s efforts top 10 nationally. The season prior ECC produced the second best defensive three-point percentage in the ICCAC (good for top 15 in the nation). During his first year with the Panthers, Tanoff helped coach a defense that led the ICCAC in defensive field goal and three-point percentage, along with leading the league in steals per game. These efforts found the Panthers in the top 10 nationally for defensive field goal and three-point percentage, along with being ranked top 10 in the country in turnovers forced per game.

Tanoff’s prowess in guard skill development can be highlighted by the fact that ECC was the only NJCAA DII men’s basketball team that had former players playing the in the 2025 NCAA March Madness post season tournament (Arlandus Keyes – Mount St. Mary’s, Shawn Fulcher – Alabama State). As a whole, Tanoff’s guards have helped the Panthers be top two in points per game in the ICCAC every year since joining the program. The Panthers have also increased their assists per game mark under Tanoff every year from being 3^rd in the ICCAC in the 2022-23 season, to 2^nd in the ICCAC in 2023-24, to finally leading the league in assists per game during the 2024-25 season. Multiple guards Tanoff has helped develop currently sit top 10 in the ECC men’s basketball record book in the following categories: field goals made in a season, three-pointers made in a season, total points in a season, assists in a season, steals in a season, career field goals made, career three-pointers made, career total points, career assists, and career steals.

11 ECC men’s basketball players have been selected as all-league players and 30 have gone on to sign scholarships to play at four-year schools in Tanoff’s three short years in the Scenic City. An impressive six of the players signed to play at the NCAA DI level after just one year with the Panthers. This is the highest such number amongst NJCAA DII school’s in this time span.

Off the court, Tanoff is heavily involved in coordinating and monitoring the team’s academics. ECC posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.46 during the 2024-2025 school year (top 10 in all of NJCAA men’s basketball regardless of division). Since Tanoff joined the program ECC men’s basketball has produced 6 Academic All-Americans, and have witness a 100% graduation rate for its players.

Immediately before joining the staff at ECC, during the summer of 2022, Tanoff was selected to serve as the head coach for the USA Basketball U18 boy’s 3-on-3 team competing in the 21^st Maccabi Games in Israel. Tanoff’s team won the gold medal and one of his players was named tournament MVP.

Tanoff arrived at ECC after the 2021-2022 season during which he served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Presbyterian College, an NCAA Division I school in the Big South Conference. During his lone season at Presbyterian, the Blue Hose recorded the second-most wins in the last decade. Tanoff's day-to-day responsibilities included film & scouting breakdowns, player development plans, team travel, fundraising, academic coordination, and numerous other operational duties.
  
Prior to joining Presbyterian, Tanoff worked at Georgia Tech as the Director of Recruiting. Where he specialized in graphics & design. Tanoff helped the staff land three Top 150 recruits by designing all digital-related content used in securing a top 30 2021 recruiting class. While at Georgia Tech, the team won their school's first ACC Championship since 1993 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Two members of this team, Jose Alvarado (2021 ACC Defensive Player of the Year), and Moses Wright (2021 ACC Player of the Year), are both now playing professionally. Alvarado is a member of the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA and Wright plays for the Texas Legends of the NBA G-League. Two additional players from this team played in the 2023 NBA Summer League tournament (Michael Devoe – Portland Trailblazers, Jordan Usher – Phoenix Suns).
 
Before making the jump to the NCAA Division I level, Tanoff spent the 2019-20 season as Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at Maine Maritime Academy, an NCAA Division III school. At Maine Maritime, he led recruiting efforts, assisted in player development, served as social media coordinator, and academic advisor. The men's program at Maine Maritime produced multiple North Atlantic Conference players of the week and was the only team in the league to earn the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Team Academic Excellence Award.
  
From 2017-2019, Tanoff was a men's basketball Graduate Assistant Coach at the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Kentucky, where he earned a Master's in Business Administration. While at UPike, Tanoff was involved in all aspects of the program from scouting and coaching to gameday operations and social media production. The Bears made back-to-back NAIA national tournament appearances and were Mid-South Conference champions in 2017-2018. Additionally, as the head coach for the UPike men's basketball JV team, Tanoff led the team to the 2018 Mid-South Conference JV championship. In 2019 Tanoff earned UPike Graduate Assistant Coach of the Year award.
 
Tanoff spent the three previous years (2014-2017) at the Lowcountry Preparatory School in Pawleys Island, S.C., where he served as head men's basketball coach for the junior varsity and varsity teams. He also served as upper school math teacher and the math department chair. Tanoff led his team to the school's first two South Carolina Independent Schools Association (SCISA) State Tournaments in school history. In his three years, Tanoff also had two players selected to play in the SCISA State All-Star Game, and his 2015-2016 JV team won the region.
 
Tanoff has worked 10+ years as a summer camp basketball instructor for coaches such as Shaka Smart, John Thompson III, Anthony Grant, and Archie Miller. He has also spent time coaching for the Hoop Group, the nation's longest-running instructional basketball camp.

Upon Tanoff’s joining the ECC men’s basketball coaching staff, Head Mne’s Basketball Coach Bryan Bender remarked, "I am excited to add Coach Ben Tanoff to our staff. Ben and I have known each other for a few years and have developed a really close relationship. He has a tireless work ethic and is one of the most organized and diligent coaches I have ever seen.  He brings a great pedigree having coached at the NCAA DI, DIII and NAIA levels.  He also gained valuable head coaching experience both at Pikeville and at the High School level.  He has a very diverse skillset and will bring tremendous value to our program, to Ellsworth CC and to the Iowa Falls Community.”

In 2014, Tanoff graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with high honors in Mathematics and Economics from Kenyon College, where he was a captain of the Cross-Country Team during his junior and senior years. He is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and resides in Iowa Falls.