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Justin Gainey
Current position
TitleAssociate head coach
TeamTennessee Volunteers
ConferenceSEC
Biographical details
Born (1977-03-19) March 19, 1977 (age 47)
Playing career
1996–2000NC State
Position(s)point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2006–2008NC State (administrative coordinator)
2008–2009NC State (director of operations)
2009–2010Elon (assistant)
2010–2014Appalachian State (assistant)
2014–2017Marquette (director of operations)
2017–2018Santa Clara (assistant coach)
2018–2020Arizona (assistant coach)
2020–2021Marquette (associate head coach)
2021–2022Tennessee (assistant coach)
2022–presentTennessee (associate head coach)

Justin Gainey is an American college basketball coach who is the associate head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers Men's Basketball team. Gainey joined Tennessee's coaching staff in 2021 as an assistant coach and was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2022-23 season. Before joining the Volunteers, Gainey held coaching and administrative roles at Marquette, Arizona, Santa Clara, Appalachian State, Elon, and NC State.

Playing career

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See also: NC State Wolfpack men's basketball statistical leaders

Following a successful high school career at Greensboro Day School, Gainey played 4 years at NC State.[1] Gainey helped the Wolfpack to postseason appearances in all 4 of his seasons and served as captain in his senior year. [2] Gainey ranked 2nd in starts (103) 4th in steals (190), and 9th in assists (344) at the conclusion of his playing career.[2][3]

During his freshman season at NC State, Gainey set the record for most minutes played in the ACC tournament after playing every minute of NC State's four games in as many days.[4][5] He was named to the first tournament team at the conclusion of the tournament.

In his senior year, the NC Wolfpack placed fourth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. At eight seconds left in playing time of the semifinal game, Gainey was fouled, but missed a free-throw after Wake Forest called a time out, allowing Wake Forest to pull ahead.[6] Gainey would make ten points in the game.[7] NC State would eventually lose third place by one basket to Penn State.

Coaching career

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After graduating with a degree in Business Administration from NC State, Gainey returned to his alma mater and served as an administrative coordinator on Sydney Lowe's staff from 2006 to 2008. Gainey was then promoted to director of operations, holding the position for 1 year. He spent the following season at Elon University as an assistant coach before joining Jeff Capel's staff at Appalachian State in the same role. Gainey and Capel had a strong relationship dating back to playing a year of high school basketball together.[8] After serving as an assistant coach for 4 years at Appalachian State, Gainey accepted the director of operations job on Steve Wojciechowski's staff at Marquette. In his final 2 seasons as director of operations, the Golden Eagles won at least 19 games in both seasons and made an NCAA Tournament appearance in his final season (2016-17).

Next, Gainey joined his former college head coach, Herb Sendek, as an assistant coach at Santa Clara. In his one year at Santa Clara, Gainey was instrumental in the Broncos signing a recruiting class in 2018 that was ranked in the top 10 for mid-majors.[2] Gainey then joined Sean Miller's staff as an assistant coach at Arizona for 2 seasons.[9] At Arizona, Gainey assisted in the recruitment of 3 NBA draft picks - Josh Green, Zeke Nnaji, and Nico Mannion.[2] The Wildcats led the Pac-12 in scoring and finished with 21 wins in Gainey's final year at Arizona. Following his time in Arizona, Gainey rejoined Steve Wojciechowski's staff at Marquette for the 2020-21 season.[10]

Prior to the 2021-22 season, Gainey joined Rick Barnes' staff at Tennessee as an assistant coach.[11] In his first season in Knoxville, Gainey helped the Volunteers to a 27-win season that featured wins over 4 top-10 ranked teams, a season high AP poll rank of #5, and the Division 1's 3rd best defensive efficiency (KenPom).[12][13][14] They maintained a Top 25 ranking in the AP poll for the entire season. Gainey also assisted in the development of All-SEC and SEC Tournament MVP, Kennedy Chandler.[2][15] The Volunteers finished with a 14-4 record in SEC conference play and earned a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.[13] Tennessee won their opening game in the 2022 NCAA Tournament but fell to Michigan in the Round of 32.[2][16]

Gainey was appointed to associate head coach and defensive coordinator prior to the 2022-23 season.[17] In his first year leading the defense, the Volunteers posted the best defensive efficiency in the nation.[18] At a point late in the 2022-23 season, the Volunteers had the top defense since KenPom started analyzing numbers in 1997. [19] The team allowed just 57.9 points per game which is the lowest total allowed by an SEC team since 2014-15.[2] The Vols won 25 games in 2022-23 and earned a #4 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. In the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Tennessee defeated #13 seed, Louisiana. In the Round of 32, the Volunteers beat Duke and held them to a season and NCAA Tournament game low (tied), 52 points, with Gainey responsible for the team's scout.[2] Tennessee ultimately fell to Final Four participant, Florida Atlantic, in the Sweet Sixteen.[20]

The 2023-24 Tennessee team built upon the success of the 2022-23 season and are currently on pace for another NCAA Tournament bid. With Gainey again leading the defense, the team sits in the Top 5 in defensive efficiency again on KenPom (as of 3/7/24).[2] The Volunteers also earned their first solo SEC regular season title since 2007-08.

The 2024-25 Tennessee basketball season is Gainey's 19th season as a coach.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "1997-98 Men's Basketball Roster". NC State University Athletics. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Justin Gainey - Men's Basketball Coach". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  3. ^ "Justin Gainey College Stats: College Basketball at Sports Reference". sports-reference.com.
  4. ^ Zietlow, Alex (March 22, 2024). "For Tennessee coaches Rick Barnes, Justin Gainey, it all started in North Carolina". The Charlotte Observer.
  5. ^ "N.C. STATE'S MOTTO: IF THE SLIPPER FITS . . ". Washington Post. 2024-03-04. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  6. ^ "Irish to Meet Deacons in Final". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  7. ^ "Songaila Steps Up In Overtime". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  8. ^ Staff, Pack Insider (2013-09-18). "Catching Up With Justin Gainey". Pack Insider. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  9. ^ "Justin Gainey Named Assistant Basketball Coach". 30 May 2018.
  10. ^ Kelapire, Ryan (Apr 3, 2020). "Arizona assistant Justin Gainey named Marquette's associate head coach".
  11. ^ "Tennessee coach Rick Barnes hires Justin Gainey as assistant". Associated Press News. April 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "2021 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings".
  13. ^ a b "SEC Men's College Basketball Standings - 2021-22".
  14. ^ "Tennessee Volunteers Schedule 2021-22".
  15. ^ "SEC names men's basketball All-SEC teams & awards". March 8, 2022.
  16. ^ "No. 11 Michigan Upsets No. 3 Tennessee to Advance to Men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16". Bleacher Report. March 19, 2022.
  17. ^ Lane, Josh (March 22, 2022). "Former Tennessee assistant Gainey promoted to associate head coach".
  18. ^ "NCAA BB Team Defensive Efficiency".
  19. ^ O'Neil, Dana. "Inside college basketball's best defense, and the lingering questions about the Vols' offense". The Athletic. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  20. ^ "Florida Atlantic makes first Elite Eight, bounces Tennessee".
  21. ^ Ken (2024-08-26). "Marching to Madness, Episode 960 - Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey". CollegeHoopsWatch. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
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