James Samuel Vincent (born May 18, 1963) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach. Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the first year the award was given. He attended Lansing's Eastern High School, where he scored 61 points in one game as a senior, breaking the previous city scoring record of 54 set by Magic Johnson at Everett High School. A 6'2" point guard, Vincent followed in the footsteps of his older brother

Jay Vincent Jay Fletcher Vincent (born June 10, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'7" forward, Vincent played at Michigan State University under coach, Jud Heathcote, where he teamed with Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser to win ...

, attending Michigan State University and earning '' Sporting News''

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors in 1985. After graduating from college, he was selected by the Boston Celtics with the twentieth pick of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 roun ...

. He played two seasons for the Celtics, winning an

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

ring as a reserve in 1986, before joining the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, who promptly traded him to 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 ...

for

Sedale Threatt Sedale Eugene Threatt (born September 10, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Threatt played college basketball at the West Virginia Institute of Techn ...

. After one-and-a-half solid seasons with the Bulls, he was selected by the Orlando Magic in the 1989 NBA

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

, and he finished his NBA career with the Magic in 1992. He scored 3,106 points and tallied 1,543 assists during his seven-year tenure in the league. Shortly after retiring, Vincent worked at

Disney's Wide World of Sports The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando. The complex includes nine venues and hosts numerous professional and amateur s ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

. During the late 1990s, he coached basketball in South Africa, and he has also coached in Greece, Netherlands,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and the

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, he led the Nigerian women's basketball team to a 68–64 victory over South Korea, which was the first ever victory by an African nation in an Olympic women's basketball contest.

Coaching career

He was coach of the Fort Worth Flyers in the 2005–06 season. Shortly after coaching the Nigeria men's team to the second round of the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

(including a shocking upset of traditional power Serbia and Montenegro), he was hired as an assistant coach by the Dallas Mavericks. On May 25, 2007 Vincent was introduced as the new head coach of the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...

of the NBA. On April 26, 2008 Vincent was relieved of his head coaching duties. Later that year, Vincent was named the head coach of the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League.

Nigerian national basketball team

Vincent assumed coaching the D'Tigress at the 2004 summer olympics. He led the team to a 68–64 victory over south-Korea, the victory was the first victory by an African side in the women's basketball event in the Olympics. In 2005, Sam Vincent led the Nigerian Women Basketball team to their second tournament victory in the FIBA African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket). Vincent returned as the team's head coach in 2017. He led the team to a 100 per cent performance in the 2017 FIBA African women's basketball tournament Afrobasket in Bamako, Mali. The team clinched their third Afrobasket title by defeating Senegal by 65–48 points in the final and consequently qualifying for the FIBA women's basketball World cup in Spain. Vincent had his appointment as head coach of the Nigeria Women's Basketball Team terminated by the

Nigeria Basketball Federation The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) is the governing body for men's and women's basketball in Nigeria. NBBF has been an affiliate of FIBA Africa since 1963, and its offices are located in Abuja and Lagos. FIBA competitions The senior men's ...

on Thursday, August 2 while the team was preparing for the

2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup The 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the 18th edition of FIBA's premier international tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from 22 to 30 September 2018. This was the first edition to u ...

. Vincent was appointed as head coach of the Bahrain National team replacing Serbian coach Darko Russo. This was after having coached the Riffa, Manama and AlAhli clubs.

Head coaching record

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Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

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References

External links

NBA.com coach profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Sam 1963 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in South Africa American expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Anaheim Arsenal coaches Aris B.C. players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Charlotte Bobcats head coaches Chicago Bulls players Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Fort Worth Flyers coaches Gymnastikos S. Larissas B.C. coaches McDonald's High School All-Americans Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Mobile Revelers coaches Orlando Magic expansion draft picks Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Seattle SuperSonics players Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople