James Earl Collins (November 24, 1946 – December 13, 2020) was an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player and coach. He was born and raised in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, where he attended
Corcoran High School
Corcoran High School is a public high school located in Syracuse, New York, having approximately 1800 students. In 2005, it became a member of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. It is one of the top 1000 ranked schools in the country ...
. Collins was the head coach of the
men's basketball team at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1996 to 2010, becoming the program's all-time winningest coach and leading UIC to its first-ever postseason appearances -
NCAA tournament appearances in 1998, 2002 and 2004, and an
NIT showing in 2003.
Early life and playing career
Born and raised in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, Collins graduated from
Corcoran High School
Corcoran High School is a public high school located in Syracuse, New York, having approximately 1800 students. In 2005, it became a member of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. It is one of the top 1000 ranked schools in the country ...
and played college basketball at
New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...
under head coach
Lou Henson
Louis Ray Henson (January 10, 1932 – July 25, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall, Henso ...
. As a senior, Collins was the captain of an Aggie squad that reached the
1970 Final Four.
Collins was then drafted in the first round of the
1970 NBA draft
The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...
by the
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
.
Coaching career
Collins began his coaching career with one and a half years as a graduate assistant at New Mexico State after retiring from professional basketball.
In 1976, Collins returned to Chicago to start a trucking business. From 1977 to 1983, Collins was a probation officer for
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
.
Collins also returned to coaching in 1980 as volunteer head coach at St. Thomas Elementary School in Chicago.
From 1983 to 1996, Collins was an assistant at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
(Illinois) under
Lou Henson
Louis Ray Henson (January 10, 1932 – July 25, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall, Henso ...
. There he had made a name for himself as one of the nation's best recruiters, helping lure Chicago area players such as
Kendall Gill
Kendall Cedric Gill (born May 25, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who now works as a television basketball analyst.
Early life
Gill was born in Chicago and attended Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, Illinoi ...
,
Nick Anderson,
Deon Thomas
Deon La velle Thomas (born February 24, 1971) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. As a high school player, he led his team to the Chicago Public League title, and was named Illinois Mr. Basketball. As a college player at the Univers ...
and the bulk of the Fighting Illini's
1989 Final Four team.
In 1996, Collins became head coach at the
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...
(UIC). In 14 seasons, Collins had a 218–208 record, including three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998, 2002, and 2004. On July 20, 2010, Collins announced his retirement from coaching.
Collins died on December 13, 2020 at age 74.
Head coaching record
Notes
External links
NBA career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jimmy
1946 births
2020 deaths
African-American basketball players
African-American basketball coaches
All-American college men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from New York (state)
Basketball players from Syracuse, New York
Chicago Bulls draft picks
Chicago Bulls players
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches
New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball coaches
New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball players
Shooting guards
UIC Flames men's basketball coaches
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American people