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Chris Collins (basketball)

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Chris Collins
Collins coaching Northwestern in March 2015
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamNorthwestern
ConferenceBig Ten
Record179–175 (.506)
Annual salary$2.8 million
Biographical details
Born (1974-04-19) April 19, 1974 (age 50)
Playing career
1992–1996Duke
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998Detroit Shock (assistant)
1998–2000Seton Hall (assistant)
2000–2013Duke (assistant)
2013–presentNorthwestern
Head coaching record
Overall179–175 (.506)
Tournaments3–3 (NCAA Division I)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
As player:
Second-team All-ACC (1996)
Illinois Mr. Basketball (1992)
As coach:
Jim Phelan Award (2023)
Big Ten Coach of the Year (2023)

Christopher Ryan Collins (born April 19, 1974) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's coach at Northwestern University. Collins previously served as associate head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team and is the son of National Basketball Association (NBA) player, coach, and commentator Doug Collins.[1]

Playing career

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At Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, Collins played on the varsity basketball team and won Illinois Mr. Basketball and McDonald's All American honors. After high school, he went on to play at Duke University. Collins received many honors for his play at Duke and was named to the All-ACC rookie team as a freshman in 1993. During his senior year, he was team captain, named Second Team All-ACC and also was awarded the Swett-Baylin Memorial Trophy, which is a trophy for Duke's MVP.

After graduating from Duke, he played professional basketball in Finland for two years.

Coaching career

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Collins returned to the United States and became an assistant coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for the Detroit Shock for one year under head coach Nancy Lieberman; and at Seton Hall for two years under head coach Tommy Amaker. In 2000, he returned to his alma mater at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski as an assistant coach and was promoted to associate coach in the summer of 2008.[1]

He was instrumental in Duke's signing of Jon Scheyer, a fellow Glenbrook North Mr. Basketball winner (2006), who, like Collins, had also considered attending Illinois. Scheyer, who Collins was key in luring to Duke, became head coach of the Blue Devils with Mike Krzyzewski's retirement following the 2021-2022 season.[2]

Northwestern

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When Bill Carmody was fired as head coach of Northwestern in March 2013, Collins was immediately mentioned as a primary target.[3] Collins' hiring was announced March 27, 2013.[4] After three years of gradual improvement, the 2016–17 season saw Collins lead the Wildcats to their best season since before World War II. The Wildcats finished with their first winning Big Ten Conference record in 49 years, earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, and went on to win their first NCAA Tournament game. Northwestern had been the only member of a power conference to have never made the tournament.

Following the season, Northwestern struggled to capitalize on their tournament run, in part because of renovations to Welsh–Ryan Arena that forced the team to play at Allstate Arena, 13 miles to the west of Northwestern's campus.[5] The team finished 10th in the conference in the 2017-18 season, and last in 2018-19. Despite those struggles, Collins was able to land Pete Nance, the highest-rated recruit in Northwestern history, who would begin play as a freshman in the 18-19 season.[6]

Struggles throughout the next few seasons would result in calls for Collins to be fired. At the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg publicly stated that he had tasked Collins with "making necessary changes" to improve the team.[7]

Ahead of the 2022-23 season, expectations for Northwestern were low, with many expecting that the departure of key pieces from the last year's team, power forward Pete Nance for North Carolina and center Ryan Young for Duke, would result in a bottom-two finish in the conference.[8]

However, Collins led the Wildcats to twelve conference wins, the most for Northwestern since 1931, and the second NCAA tournament berth in program history.[9] Collins's decision to bring in assistant coach Chris Lowery and revamp the team's defensive approach was widely credited with turning the team around.[10] Beyond the NCAA tournament appearance, where the Wildcats would again advance to the Round of 32, Collins also coached Northwestern to their first win over the No. 1 team in the AP Poll, when the Wildcats defeated Purdue in Evanston.[11]

In the first conference game of the 2023-2024 season, Collins and Northwestern would again upset No. 1 ranked Purdue in Evanston, this time in overtime.[12]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (2013–present)
2013–14 Northwestern 14–19 6–12 T–10th
2014–15 Northwestern 15–17 6–12 T–10th
2015–16 Northwestern 20–12 8–10 9th
2016–17 Northwestern 24–12 10–8 T–5th NCAA Division I Round of 32
2017–18 Northwestern 15–17 6–12 10th
2018–19 Northwestern 13–19 4–16 14th
2019–20 Northwestern 8–23 3–17 13th
2020–21 Northwestern 9–15 6–13 12th
2021–22 Northwestern 15–16 7–13 T–10th
2022–23 Northwestern 23–12 12–8 T–2nd NCAA Division I Round of 32
2023–24 Northwestern 22–12 12–8 T–3rd NCAA Division I Round of 32
2024–25 Northwestern 1–1 0–0
Northwestern: 179–175 (.506) 80–129 (.383)
Total: 179–175 (.506)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chris Collins Bio – GoDuke.com—Official Athletics Web site of Duke University". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  2. ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  3. ^ Johnson, Chris (March 28, 2013). "Northwestern Hires Chris Collins: Instant Analysis". Inside NU.
  4. ^ "Chris Collins Named Head Men's Basketball Coach". Northwestern University.
  5. ^ "The Year After isn't quite the Year Part II". February 2, 2018.
  6. ^ Ragatz, Will (June 29, 2017). "Four-star 2018 forward Pete Nance commits to Northwestern basketball over Michigan, Ohio State". Inside NU. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  7. ^ Chasen, Ben (March 14, 2022). "BREAKING: Chris Collins to remain Northwestern men's basketball's head coach after meeting with AD Derrick Gragg". Inside NU. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Quinn, Brendan. "The official/unofficial Big Ten basketball media poll: Indiana, Illinois are favorites". The Athletic. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  9. ^ Quinn, Brendan. "Big Ten media poll: Purdue's the heavy preseason favorite, but postseason is real question". The Athletic. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Cervantes, Alex (November 6, 2023). "How Chris Collins plans to bring Northwestern back to the Big Dance". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  11. ^ Cervantes, Alex (February 13, 2023). "NU men's basketball downs No. 1 Purdue in epic 64-58 comeback victory". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  12. ^ Cobb, David (December 2, 2023). "Northwestern shocks No. 1 Purdue in overtime as Boo Buie comes up clutch in legendary performance". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
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