Elijah Roth completed his third season with the Hornets in 2024-25, and first as an assistant coach. He was the team’s director of basketball operations in 2023-24, and the director of scouting and analytics in 2022-23.
Roth was part of a Hornet staff that began laying the foundation in 2022-23. Sacramento State won 14 games, easily the most by a first-year coaching staff in Sacramento State’s Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the third best mark in program history (1948-pres.). In addition, the team was a top six seed at the Big Sky Conference Tournament for just the second time in 16 years. In fact, the Hornets received a first round bye at the tournament for the first time since joining the conference in 1996.
In 2023-24, the Hornets’ semifinal appearance at the Big Sky Tournament marked the first time the team had won two games at the postseason event since joining the league in 1996. Sacramento State fell in the semifinals in a tightly contested 74-71 loss to eventual tournament champion Montana State. In addition, the Hornets were one of four Div. I teams in the country to play their freshmen over 40% of the team’s total minutes.
The 2024-25 season saw the Hornets deal with a plethora of injuries, forcing the staff to use a rotation that included three freshmen and three sophomores throughout the Big Sky Conference portion of the season. Still, of the team’s 18 conference games, 10 were decided by six points or less. In addition, the team won three straight from Dec. 22-Jan. 4, and saw senior forward Jacob Holt named second team all-Big Sky Conference.
The Hornets led the Big Sky in rebounding margin during Roth’s first two seasons with the program, and finished among the top 25 teams in the nation both years. That includes ranking 22nd with a +6.4 margin in 2023-24, and 18th in the nation with a +6.0 in 2022-23. In addition, the Hornets finished among the top four teams in the league in scoring defense all three of his seasons on staff.
Roth has eight seasons of experience at the collegiate level, and spent one year (2021-22) working as a video scout and analytics consultant for Sports Info Solutions.
The Tucson, Ariz., native was a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 2020-21. That season, the Razorbacks finished with a 25-7 record, and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. That Elite Eight appearance was the first for the program since 1995.
Prior to Arkansas, he spent four seasons (2016-20) as a student manager for Arizona. During his four-year tenure, the Wildcats combined for a 97-39 record, two Pac-12 Tournament championships and a Sweet 16 appearance at the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Roth graduated from Arizona in 2020 with a sports and society degree, and is currently working on his master’s degree (physical education)
