Ali Ton is in his second season as an assistant coach in 2024-25 and third year overall since rejoining the men's basketball staff in the 2022-23 season.
He served one year as the program's director of recruiting.
Ton took part in UCI's back-to-back regular season titles in 2023-24 that led to an at-large berth to the NIT. The Anteaters tallied a ranked win over a Pac-12 opponent in November for the second straight season (No. 16/20 USC, 70-60).
In 2022-23, he was part of the program's sixth Big West regular season title under head coach Russell Turner, leading to an automatic birth to the NIT. The season was highlighted by a ranked win over No. 21 Oregon, 69-56, and capturing the Las Vegas Holiday Classic title.
After leaving UCI, Ton spent three seasons at Fordham University as an Assistant Coach. Recruiting and player development was a focus for Ali, bringing in top international recruits, transfers, and freshmen. In addition, Ton was able to help Fordham finish third in the NCAA in steals per game (9.8) and fourth in total steals (315) during the 2016-17 season.
Completing his stint with Fordham, Ton founded Global Edge Basketball in August 2019, where he last served as the Executive Director. Global Edge was designed to aid in player development and personal training for athletes in elementary school up to high school. Another branch of the company focuses on consulting for international and domestic student-athletes who aspire to play at top-tier academic institutions.
During his previous tenure at UC Irvine, Ton assisted in the Anteaters first post-season win in school history in 2013 at the CIT. The Blue and Gold's regular season champion title in 2014 resulted in a bid to the NIT. Turner and Ton saw the first NCAA bid following the first Big West Tournament Championship title in school history in 2015. The Anteaters were regular season Co-Champions in 2016, reached the CIT finals, and recorded the most wins (28) in school history.
As the associate head coach, Ton aided in the recruitment efforts nationally and internationally. Some of the notable Anteaters he recruited were Will Davis II (Big West Tournament MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, All-Conference Team), Jonathan Galloway (Three-time Defensive Player of the Year), Luke Nelson (Big West Freshman of the Year, All-Conference Team), Ioannis Dimakopolous (Greek National Team), Evan Leonard, and Eyassu Worku.
In his time as assistant and associate head coach of the Anteaters, Ton's expertise was shown through the development of a Big West Conference MVP (Will Davis II), two Freshman's of the Year (Alex Young, Luke Nelson), two Defensive Players of the Year (Mamadou Ndiaye twice, Will Davis II), and seven All-Conference Players (Daman Starring, Michael Wilder, Chris McNealy, Luke Nelson, Will Davis II, Alex Young, Mamadou Ndiaye).
Prior to his arrival in Irvine in 2010, Ton was an assistant coach at Radford University for three seasons. One of his recruiting highlights at Radford was All-American and two-time Big South Player of the Year, Art Parakhouski from Minsk, Belarus. Radford reached the NCAA Tournament in 2008-09 for the second time in the school's history.
Ton began his coaching career at his alma mater, Davidson College, helping the Wildcats to the 2004 Southern Conference South Division regular-season title. Ton moved on to Western Carolina following that season and then to Binghamton University in New York for two seasons.
In the summer of 2005, he was an assistant with the Turkish National U-20 team that competed at the European Championships.
Ton was an accomplished point guard at Davidson, finishing his collegiate career as the all-time assists leader and second in steals. He helped the Wildcats reach the NIT Tournament in 1996 and the NCAA Tournament in 1998.
Prior to moving to the coaching ranks, Ton played professional basketball in Turkey for four years. In his final year of pro ball, he was a member of Galatasaray, one of the largest athletic clubs in the world.
He and his wife Elizabeth, who is a Southern California native, have a daughter, Leyla, and son, Kaya.
