James Edward Baron (born March 20, 1954) is a retired 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. He previously held the position of head coach at

Saint Francis University Saint Francis University (SFU) is a private Catholic university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on in the fore ...

, St. Bonaventure University, the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

and Canisius College.

Playing career

Baron lettered in basketball for four years (1973 to 1977) at St. Bonaventure University and helped St. Bonaventure win the

1977 National Invitation Tournament The 1977 National Invitation Tournament was the 1977 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 16 teams selected for the tournament.

as a senior. Baron graduated from St. Bonaventure with a degree in physical education in 1977 and later earned a master's degree in counseling from the same institution in 1988.

Coaching career

In 1977, Baron began his coaching career as an assistant coach at

Aquinas Institute The Aquinas Institute of Rochester is a co-educational Catholic school in Rochester, New York established in 1902. Although The Aquinas Institute was founded as an all-male high school, it opened to female students in 1982. It is located within ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

. The following year, Baron became an assistant coach at NCAA Division III

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

. Baron moved up to Division I as an assistant for

Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the U ...

for the 1979–80 season. In 1980, Baron returned to his alma mater as assistant coach for St. Bonaventure. From 1981 to 1987, Baron was an assistant coach at Notre Dame under

Digger Phelps Richard Frederick "Digger" Phelps (born July 4, 1941) is an American former college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1971 to 1991. For 20 years, from 1993 to 2014, he served as an analyst on ESPN. He got the n ...

. Baron helped Notre Dame make the NCAA Tournaments of

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and rank in the season-end top-25 polls in 1986 and 1987. Baron first became a head coach in 1987 at

Loretto, Pennsylvania Loretto is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,302. Like the rest of Cambria County, it is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. Loretto is the home of Saint Franc ...

. His teams showed improvement each of his first four seasons, culminating in an appearance in the 1991 NCAA tournament. In 1992, Baron began a 20-season stint as a head coach in the Atlantic 10 Conference, returning to St. Bonaventure once again, this time as head coach. During his nine seasons as head coach, St. Bonaventure appeared in the

1995 National Invitation Tournament The 1995 National Invitation Tournament was the 1995 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. The 1995 tournament was notable for the roster size of eventual champion Virginia Tech - injuries prior to and during the tournament ...

and 2000 NCAA tournament, the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1978. As a #12 seed, St. Bonaventure lost 85–80 in double overtime to #5

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. The A-10 recognized Baron as Coach of the Year in 1995. Baron became head coach at

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

in 2001. After going 8–20 in his first season, Baron led Rhode Island to a 19–12 season the following year and won his second A-10 Coach of the Year award. Rhode Island spent four weeks ranked in the top-25 polls from December 24, 2007 to January 21, 2008. Rhode Island made three NIT appearances, including in the 2010 semifinals. In April 2010, he agreed with Rhode Island to a contract extension through the 2013–14 season. However, after a 7–24 season and a second-to-last place conference finish in 2011–12, the university terminated his contract on March 4, 2012. Rhode Island never appeared in the NCAA Tournament during Baron's tenure. Canisius College hired Baron as men's basketball head coach on April 2, 2012. After four years at Canisius, Baron announced his retirement from coaching on May 20, 2016.

Personal life

Baron is the father of two professional basketball-playing sons, Jimmy and

Billy Baron William James Baron (born December 11, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He is a 1.88 m (6'2") tall shooting guard. High school Baron attended and ...

, both of whom he coached in college.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Jim 1954 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Loyola Greyhounds men's basketball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball coaches Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches Rochester Zeniths players Saint Francis Red Flash men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Brooklyn St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball coaches St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball players