Mitch Cole is an American men's basketball coach, currently an assistant coach at Samford. He previously coached at Birmingham–Southern and

Berry College Berry College is a private liberal arts college in the Mount Berry community adjacent to Rome, Georgia. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Berry College was founded on values based on Christian pri ...

Early life and education

Cole is a native of

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He played basketball at Holy Cross School, graduating in 1988. Cole subsequently attended Montana State Billings and played basketball on its Yellow Jackets team. In 1992, he graduated with degrees in history and education. Cole earned his master's degree in education from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in 1995.

Coaching career

Cole began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Southeastern Louisiana in 1992. He also served as a graduate assistant at

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

while he attended the university. In 1995, Cole was hired as an assistant coach at Birmingham–Southern under

Duane Reboul Duane Reboul (born November 9, 1948) is an assistant basketball coach at Samford. He coached at Birmingham–Southern. Early life and education Reboul grew up in a family of ten children in New Orleans. He attended De La Salle High School, wh ...

. He helped the Panthers reach the NAIA National Tournament every year from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, the school began its transition to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

, and Cole successfully recruited and developed players that made Birmingham–Southern competitive despite a five-year postseason ban. In the 2003–04 season, in Birmingham–Southern's first full season as a member of Division I, he helped the team finish 20–7 and win the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

Co-Championship. After Reboul was informed that the school would move to

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

, he stepped down in protest in July 2006 and was replaced by Cole. Due to player defections, Birmingham–Southern did not field a basketball team in the 2006–07 season. Cole was responsible for building the program from the ground up and posted a 13–12 record with 15 freshmen in 2007–08. The Panthers went 20–5 two years later and won the

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distanc ...

(SCAC) East Division title. In the 2010–11 season, Cole led Birmingham–Southern to one of its best seasons, winning the NCAA Division III Provisional Tournament championship and going 23–4 and 14–2 in the SCAC. He was named D3hoops.com South Region Coach of the Year. In June 2011, Cole announced he was leaving the school to accept an assistant coaching position at Texas A&M, finishing his tenure at Birmingham–Southern with a record of 67–35. Under

Billy Kennedy Billy Kennedy may refer to: *Billy Kennedy (basketball) (born 1964), former head men's basketball coach at Texas A&M University * Billy Kennedy (''Neighbours''), a character in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' * Billy Kennedy (loyalist), se ...

, Cole spent five seasons on the bench at Texas A&M. He helped the Aggies win a school-record 28 games in 2015–16, win the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

, and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I tournament after a last-minute win over

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. In May 2016, Cole joined the staff of

Wes Flanigan Wes Flanigan is an American college basketball coach and current assistant coach for the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach for the Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team. Playing career Flanigan played at Aubu ...

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. He coached the Trojans for two seasons. In April 2018, Cole was announced as the head coach at

. In his first season at Berry, Cole led the Vikings to a 19–7 overall record, the most overall wins in their NCAA DIII era, and 11–3 in the

Southern Athletic Association The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in NCAA Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and indepe ...

(SAA). He won his 100th game in January 2020 over his former team, Birmingham–Southern. During the 2020–21 season, Cole led the Vikings to the Southern Athletic Association regular season and tournament championship and earned 2021 SAA Coach of the Year honors. He finished with a 51–17 record at Berry. In July 2021, Cole was hired as an assistant coach at Samford under Bucky McMillan.

Personal life

Cole is married to Amy and has three children: daughter Laura Kate and sons Carson and Joshua.

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies profileTwitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Mitch Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from New Orleans Montana State Billings Yellowjackets men's basketball players Southeastern Louisiana Lions basketball coaches Auburn Tigers men's basketball coaches Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball coaches Little Rock Trojans men's basketball coaches Birmingham–Southern Panthers men's basketball coaches Berry Vikings men's basketball coaches Samford Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from New Orleans Year of birth missing (living people)