James Francis Boylen (born April 18, 1965) is an American professional

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 ...

coach. He was the coach of 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 ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). Previously, Boylen served as head coach for the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, coaching the program from 2007 to 2011 before being fired on March 12, 2011. The Utah job was his first head coaching position after spending over a decade as an assistant at both the NBA and NCAA levels. He replaced

Ray Giacoletti Raymond Bryan Giacoletti (born April 14, 1962) is a retired men's basketball coach, having served as head coach at Drake University, and The University of Utah. He played collegiate basketball at Minot State University in North Dakota from 1980 to ...

, who was fired from Utah on March 3, 2007. Prior to joining Utah, Boylen spent two years at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(MSU) as assistant coach under

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spart ...

College career

Boylen was born in

East Grand Rapids, Michigan East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,694. The city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is surrounded by Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Township, ...

in 1965 and attended the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, where he was a captain during both his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, he earned First Team All-North Atlantic Conference honors after averaging 21 points per game. That same year, he finished runner-up in the conference Player of the Year voting to Northeastern's

Reggie Lewis Reginald C. Lewis (November 21, 1965 – July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. Early life Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Lewis attended high schoo ...

. Boylen earned a bachelor's degree in business from Maine in 1987.

Coaching history

Early years

Boylen began his coaching career as an assistant under Michigan State head coach

Jud Heathcote George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University H ...

. He would stay there from 1987 to 1992 before accepting a position with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. As an assistant coach with the Rockets, Boylen would help coach the team to win two NBA championships. After his 11-year stint with Houston, Boylen became an assistant coach with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

and then the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. After 13 years of coaching in the NBA, he returned to Michigan State as an assistant with the Spartans. As

's top assistant, he helped lead Michigan State to a 45–23 record in two years, including two NCAA appearances.

Utah

On March 27, 2007, Boylen was named the head coach at the

. In his first season, Boylen brought more consistency to the Utes, guiding them to their first winning record in two years and their first postseason berth since reaching the NCAA tournament in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. While there were some struggles, including two losses to

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

for the second consecutive year, Utah did manage to beat instate rival

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

and earned a surprising victory on the road at Cal. The Utes also stunned

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 ...

in the first round of the 2008 Mountain West tournament, all but killing the Lobos' chances of gaining an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Boylen's Utes finished his inaugural season with an 18–15 mark, defeating UTEP in the first round of the 2008 College Basketball Invitational before losing to eventual champion

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. In his second season, Boylen turned the Utes into

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 ...

champions, guiding them to a 21–9 regular season record (12–4 in the Mountain West) and winning the conference tournament. The Utes were then given a fifth seed in the NCAA tournament but were upset by the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

squad with two future NBA players ( Jordan Hill and

Chase Budinger Chase Andrew Budinger (born May 22, 1988) is an American professional volleyball player and former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 44th overall pick in 2009 NBA draft after playing three years of c ...

). After graduating several key players from the 2008–09 team, Utah struggled in Boylen's third season, regressing to a losing record and finishing in the bottom-half of the Mountain West Conference. Their 17 losses marked their second worst total in the last 20 years with only the 2007 Utes having more on the season. In Boylen's fourth season, the Utes went 13–18. The program fired him on March 12, 2011.

San Antonio Spurs

On June 28, 2013, Boylen was hired by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

as an assistant coach for the 2013–14 season. Boylen won his third NBA championship after the Spurs defeated the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

4–1 in the 2014 NBA Finals. On June 2, 2015, Boylen and

David Vanterpool David Vanterpool (born March 31, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his playing career, he ...

were named to

Canada men's national basketball team The Canadian men's national basketball team represents Canada in international basketball competitions since 1923. They are overseen by Canada Basketball, the governing body of basketball in Canada. The team's head coach is Nick Nurse and its ge ...

Chicago Bulls

On June 17, 2015, Boylen was named associate head coach of the

. On December 3, 2018, the Bulls promoted Boylen to head coach when

Fred Hoiberg Fredrick Kristian Hoiberg (born October 15, 1972) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has served as the men's head basketball coach at the University of Nebraska since 2019. Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and played coll ...

was relieved of his duties after a 5–19 start to the 2018–19 season. On August 14, 2020, the Bulls fired Boylen after a 39–84 record in two seasons without a playoff appearance. His .317 winning percentage was the second worst in franchise history (minimum 100 games) behind

Tim Floyd Tim Floyd (born February 25, 1954) is a former American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He was formerly the head coach of several teams in the NCAA and the NBA. Floyd is also kn ...

(.205). On October 20, 2021, the

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...

announced that Boylen had been selected head coach for USA Basketball World Cup qualifying team to play in November window.

Head coaching record

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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

, style="text-align:left;", , 58 , , 17 , , 41 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, , — , , — , , — , , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

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

, style="text-align:left;", , 65 , , 22 , , 43 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in

, , — , , — , , — , , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 123 , , 39 , , 84 , , , , , , — , , — , , — , , — , ,

References

External links

University of Utah bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boylen, Jim 1965 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Chicago Bulls head coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Golden State Warriors assistant coaches Houston Rockets assistant coaches Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Maine Black Bears men's basketball players Michigan State Spartans men's basketball coaches Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches People from East Grand Rapids, Michigan Utah Utes men's basketball coaches