Jéan-Edúard Prioleau (born March 30, 1970) is an American

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 who was most recently head men's basketball coach at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

from 2017 to 2021. Prioleau grew up in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

and played college basketball at Fordham, where he was a two-time all- Patriot League honoree and helped Fordham qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time in over 20 years. From 1992 to 1999, Prioleau played professional basketball for the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

in the U.S. and various European leagues. In 1999, Prioleau began his basketball coaching career at Fordham. He subsequently had assistant coaching positions at

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

under

Mark Turgeon Mark Leo Turgeon (born February 5, 1965) is an American college basketball coach. Turgeon served as the head men's basketball coach at Jacksonville State University from 1998 to 2000, Wichita State University from 2000 to 2007, Texas A&M Univers ...

, Marquette under

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...

, Iowa State under

Greg McDermott Greg McDermott (born November 25, 1964) is an American basketball coach who has been the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach at Wayne State College, North Dakota ...

, TCU under

Jim Christian James Patrick Christian (born February 6, 1965), known professionally as Jim Christian, is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Boston College men's basketball team. He previously held the same ...

, and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

under

Tad Boyle Thomas Martin "Tad" Boyle (born January 6, 1963) is an American college basketball coach who is the men's head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes of the Pac-12 Conference. He was named the 18th coach in Colorado men's basketball history on April 19, ...

. After 18 years as an assistant coach, Prioleau got his first head coaching position at

in 2017. San Jose State was consistently among the worst teams in the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

during his tenure, and he was fired after just 20 wins in four seasons.

Early life and college basketball career

Prioleau was born in New York City and raised in

. At

Teaneck High School , motto_translation = To enrich the mind and improve the character , fundingtype = Public , schooltype = high school , grades = 9– 12 , district = Teaneck Public Schools , enrollment = 1,239 (as of 2021–22) , faculty = ...

, Prioleau was named all-state third team and all-league as well as all-county first team. At

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, Prioleau played at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for the

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in t ...

from 1988 to 1992. In the 1991

Patriot League men's basketball tournament The Patriot League men's basketball tournament is held at the conclusion of each regular season. The winner of the tournament is awarded an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Tournament finals results Sources: ...

title game, Prioleau the winning three at the buzzer in Fordham's 84–81 win over Holy Cross. As a senior, Prioleau averaged 12.8 points per game and led Fordham to its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. Prioleau earned second-team All- Patriot League honors in 1991 and 1992. He left the program second in career steals and fifth in career points. Prioleau graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Pro basketball career

Following his college career, Prioleau played two seasons in the

(CBA) for the

Yakima Sun Kings The Yakima SunKings are a basketball team located in Yakima, Washington, covering the central Washington sports market of Yakima, Tri-Cities, and Ellensburg and plays at the Yakima SunDome. The team competed in the Continental Basketball Associat ...

, the

Grand Rapids Hoops The Grand Rapids Hoops were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their first season was in 1989 and their final season was in 2003. Professional basketball later returned to Grand ...

and the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

. In 55 games, his CBA career averages were 3.7 points and 1.8 assists per game. Prioleau played for a Swiss team in 1994–95 and Turkish team in 1995–96. Then from 1997 to 1999, Prioleau played for Italian team Sicc BPA Jesi.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1999–2010)

Prioleau returned to Fordham to begin his coaching career as an assistant under new coach

Bob Hill Robert W. Hill''The Sporting News: 1992-93 Official NBA Register''. St. Louis, Missouri: The Sporting News Publishing Co. 1992. (born November 24, 1948) is an American basketball coach. Hill grew up in Mount Sterling, Ohio, moving to Worthingt ...

in 1999. Fordham went 14–15 (7–9 in

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

games), a two game improvement overall and in conference from the last season. The new coaching staff inherited a program that had just one winning season in the entire 1990s. Wichita State qualified for the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

three straight seasons from 2003 to 2005; Prioleau helped build some of the best recruiting classes in program history. In the 2005–06 season, Prioleau was an assistant coach at Marquette under

. Marquette went 20–11 and qualified for the NCAA tournament. From 2006 to 2008, Prioleau was an assistant coach at Iowa State under

. Iowa State went 15–16 and 2006–07 and 14–18 in 2007–08. Then from 2008 to 2010, Prioleau was an assistant coach at TCU under

. TCU went 14–17 and 13–19 in Prioleau's two seasons on staff.

Colorado assistant (2010–2017)

On May 12, 2010, new head coach

hired Prioleau as an assistant coach on his staff at

. Coming off four straight losing seasons, Colorado improved to 24–11 and an NIT appearance. Prioleau was promoted to associate head coach in 2013 and would remain on staff through the 2016–17 season; Colorado had winning records and postseason appearances every season including four NCAA Tournament appearances (2012–14 and 2016).

San Jose State (2017–2021)

On August 4, 2017, Prioleau was hired as head coach at

. Previous head coach

Dave Wojcik David Edward Wojcik (born December 12, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently head men's basketball coach at San Jose State. His brother, Doug, was also a head coach at the NCAA Division I men's level for basketball ...

resigned the previous month following a 14–16 season. By the end of the month, top scorer Brandon Clarke transferred to Gonzaga. Prioleau's first season at San Jose State had a 4–27 record, with a 1–17 record in

play. After the season, three starting players transferred. The 2018–19 season had the same win–loss record. The 2019–20 season began with an upset of defending

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

regular season champion

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

in an away game. San Jose State had a 2–3 start in Mountain West play after wins over

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and defending Mountain West regular season champion

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in the first two weeks of January. However, San Jose State finished only marginally better than last season with a 7–24 (3–15 MW). In Prioleau's final season as head coach in 2020–21, San Jose State went 5–16 (2–12 MW). Multiple games were canceled or rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 12, 2021, Prioleau was fired.

Head coaching record

References

External links