Gavin Root joined the Centre staff in 2023 and was named interim head coach of Centre men's basketball in the fall of 2025, making him just the second coach the program has had in the 21st century.
During the 2024-25 season, Root served as interim coach while head coach Greg Mason was on a medical leave of absence and he led the Colonels to a 6-4 record. This included the Southern Athletic Association Tournament, where Root guided Centre to its first championship game appearance in five seasons.
Root has already helped the Centre program make history, as the 2024-25 squad set a new school record for most three-pointers made in a season. In both of Root's seasons as an assistant coach, Centre produced the SAA Newcomer of the Year (Riley Mastin - 2024, Nolan Wahl - 2025).
Root came to Centre following a successful stint as a graduate assistant at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he helped the Blazers achieve one of the best seasons in program history as the team finished their season in the NIT Championship with wins over Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Georgia, and FAU in the 2022-2023 Season. He also helped UAB set the season record for wins at 29 and a final season of NET ranking at 39.
In the 2021-22 season, Root served as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky University, where his team won 19 games, including Power 5 wins over Ole Miss and Louisville.
Specializing in individual player development, Root worked with four players who earned All-Conference honors in Conference USA – Trey Jemison and Jordan "Jelly" Walker at UAB, and Dayvion McKnight and Jamarion Sharp at Western Kentucky.
Root was a four-year letter winner at Transylvania University, a two-year team captain and a member of the 2018-19 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship squad.
Root has worked as a clinician at several major basketball events including John Lucas Enterprises, The Under Armour Association Circuit & Collegiate camps including The University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Purdue University, Texas A&M, and Maryland University.
Root graduated from Transylvania University with a degree in Business Administration in 2021 and earned his MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2023.
Root and his wife, Allie Root, reside in Nicholasville.
