Benjamin Abraham Braun (born November 25, 1953) is an American former men's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and college basketball analyst. He served as the head men's basketball coach at

Siena Heights University Siena Heights University (SHU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Adrian, Michigan. It was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919. History The institution was founded for women in 1919 as St. Joseph's College by the Adrian Domini ...

(1977–1985),

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(1986–1996), the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(1996–2008), and

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

(2008–2014), compiling a career coaching record of 615–517. He won the most games (185) of any head coach history of the

Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball The Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team represents Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The team currently competes in the West division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). They have appeared in four NCAA Division I tou ...

program and was named

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

Coach of the Year three times. As the head coach of the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, he won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year and had a 219–154 record (.587). Braun currently is a studio and game basketball analyst for the Pac-12 Network.

Early and personal life

Braun was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and is Jewish. His father is Academy Award nominee producer

Zev Braun Zev Braun (October 19, 1928 – October 17, 2019) was an American motion picture producer. Though much of his work is in television (most notably as the executive producer of the ''Tour of Duty'' series) he was a successful filmmaker from th ...

. He graduated from

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school, with its main campus for sophomores through seniors located in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, and a campus in Northfield, Illinoi ...

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...

, where he excelled on both the basketball team and, as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, on the baseball team. Braun played one year of basketball at the

University of Wisconsin–La Crosse The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW Lax) is a public university in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. With 9,600 un ...

. He then transferred to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

. He earned a teaching degree in English, with a minor in African-American Studies, in June 1975. He earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling from

Siena Heights Siena Heights University (SHU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Adrian, Michigan. It was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919. History The institution was founded for women in 1919 as St. Joseph's College by the Adrian Dom ...

in 1980. He and his wife, Jessica, have a son Julius and a daughter Eliza.

Basketball coaching career

After graduating from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in 1975, Braun began his career as an assistant coach at

Washington Park High School Washington Park High School (also known as Park or Racine Park High School) is a public, four-year high school in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, with an enrollment of over 2,400 students. Its school colors are blue and orange. The school's mascot, the pan ...

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

. After two years of coaching high school basketball, he accepted the head coaching job at

. Braun coached Siena Heights for eight years, taking the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) school to a 148–103 record and five postseason tournaments. Prior to the 1985–86 season, Braun took on the position of associate head coach at

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

. Midway through the year, on January 15, 1986, he was elevated to interim head coach. Within two years his Hurons (Eagles from 1991 onwards) were in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. During his 11 years at Eastern Michigan, he guided the Eagles to four postseason berths, including three NCAA appearances. Braun accumulated a record of 185–132 and was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year three times. His 185 wins are the most by a coach in

history. In the summer of 1989, he was the head coach of the U.S. men's basketball team at the

1989 Maccabiah Games The 13th Maccabiah Games brought 4,500 athletes to Israel from 45 nations. Jewish athletes from Hungary participated for the first time since World War II, Jewish athletes from Russia had been permitted, by their country, to play for the first ti ...

.Ben Braun Bio - The University of California Official Athletic Site - CalBears.com , University of California Official Athletic Site
/ref> The team lost to Team Israel in the final. Braun replaced

Todd Bozeman Todd Anthony Bozeman (born December 5, 1963) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for Rhode Island, where he also had a collegiate playing career. He was the head men's basketball coach at Morgan State Univer ...

as the head coach at Cal prior to the 1996–97 season. Expectations were low as the Golden Bears were predicted to finish in the bottom half of the conference. However, the team finished tied for second in the conference and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. The team finished the season 23–9 and gave Braun a school record for most wins by a Bear coach in his first year with the program. Braun went on to win the Pac-10 Coach of the Year – the first Cal coach to ever receive the award. In the 1998–99 season, Braun's club defeated North Carolina, UCLA, and Arizona during the course of the year to become the first team ever at Cal to beat three Top 10 schools in the same season. Then after entering the NIT, the Bears, led by

Geno Carlisle Geno Marcellus Carlisle (born August 13, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6' 3", 200-lb. point guard born in Grand Rapids, Michigan played in several leagues throughout the world. Collegiate career Carlisle began ...

, won five consecutive postseason games to capture the NIT title – Cal's first postseason tournament championship since the Bears won the 1959 NCAA title. Cal finished the 1998–99 campaign with a 22–11 record. In 2000–01, the Bears returned to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 20–11 record, and

Sean Lampley Sean Lampley (born September 3, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. College career Lampley played at the University of California, leading the Golden Bears to victory over Clemson in the 1999 National Invitational Tourna ...

– Braun's first recruit at Cal after NCAA sanctions were lifted from Bozeman's tenure – became the school's all-time leading scorer late in his senior campaign, finishing with 1,776 points. In 2001–02, the Bears again went 23–9 and tied for second in the Pac-10 standings. Cal earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA playoffs, where the Bears toppled Penn before falling to Pittsburgh in the second round. In 2002–03, Cal again reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament behind All-Pac-10 forwards

Joe Shipp Joshua Ian Shipp (born February 14, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Brose Baskets of the Basketball Bundesliga. Shipp played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins. He ...

and

Amit Tamir Amit Tamir ( he, עמית יוסף תמיר)(born December 2, 1979) is an Israeli professional basketball coach and former player. He is a 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall former center/ forward. Biography Amit Yosef Tamir was born in Jerusalem to A ...

. Shipp ended his career in the No. 3 position on the Bears' all-time scoring list, while teammate

Brian Wethers Brian Augustus Wethers (born December 17, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. Wethers primarily played the small forward or shooting guard position. This career ended with a foot injury. Basketball career High school Wet ...

finished in the No. 15 position. In 2005–06, Cal defeated USC and Oregon to reach the Pac-10 Tournament final for the first time ever.

Leon Powe Leon Powe Jr. (; born January 22, 1984) is an American former professional basketball power forward. Drafted in 2006 by the Denver Nuggets, Powe grew up in Oakland, California, and played college basketball at the University of California, Berkel ...

and the Bears then earned a No. 7 regional seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished the year with a 20–11 mark. On November 21, 2005, Cal defeated Long Beach State, 88–69, to give Braun his 500th career win. Two days after losing to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in the 2008 National Invitation Tournament, Braun was fired as head coach of the Golden Bears on March 26, 2008. During his tenure at Cal, Braun directed the Bears to more postseason appearances and more postseason victories than any coach in school history. His 219 wins in 12 years are second to

Nibs Price Clarence Merle "Nibs" Price (April 26, 1889 – January 13, 1968) was a basketball and American football coach. After coaching at San Diego High School, he served as the head football coach at the University of California, Berkeley from 1926 to 1 ...

(1925–54, 449–294) in both tenure and wins at Cal, while his Cal winning percentage (.606) is the best at the school since Hall of Famer

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Univer ...

guided the Bears to a 119–44 mark from 1955–60. Braun was hired as the head men's coach at

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, replacing

Willis Wilson Willis Thomas Wilson Jr. (born March 22, 1960) is an American basketball coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's basketball team before retiring in March 2021. He previously served an assistant ...

in 2008. He resigned on March 13, 2014, after six seasons with the Owls, compiling a 63–128 record.Ben Braun, Rice Owls part ways
/ref>

Head coaching record

References

External links

Rice profile

California profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Ben 1953 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Chicago California Golden Bears men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball coaches New Trier High School alumni Rice Owls men's basketball coaches Siena Heights Saints men's basketball coaches Siena Heights University alumni Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles men's basketball players

Early and personal life

Basketball coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links