Chris Collins (basketball)

{{Short description|American basketball player and coach (born 1974)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Chris Collins

| image = 20150303 Chris Collins.JPG

| alt =

| caption = Collins coaching Northwestern in March 2015

| current_title = Head coach

| current_team = Northwestern

| current_conference = Big Ten

| current_record = {{winpct|194|190|record=y}}

| contract = $2.8 million

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|4|19}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1992–1996

| player_team1 = Duke

| player_positions = Guard

| coach_years1 = 1998

| coach_team1 = Detroit Shock (assistant)

| coach_years2 = 1998–2000

| coach_team2 = Seton Hall (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 2000–2013

| coach_team3 = Duke (assistant)

| coach_years4 = 2013–present

| coach_team4 = Northwestern

| overall_record = {{winpct|194|190|record=y}}

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record = 3–3 (NCAA Division I)

| championships =

| 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)

| coaching_records =

}}

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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=152858 |title=Chris Collins Bio – GoDuke.com—Official Athletics Web site of Duke University |access-date=May 29, 2008 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927210405/http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=152858 |url-status=dead }}

Playing career

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

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.

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.{{Cite web|title=MSN|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/scheyer-named-next-duke-men-s-basketball-head-coach-following-krzyzewski-retirement-announcement-with-2021-22-being-his-final-season/ar-AAKDY7C|access-date=2021-11-17|website=www.msn.com}}

=Northwestern=

When Bill Carmody was fired as head coach of Northwestern in March 2013, Collins was immediately mentioned as a primary target.{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Chris|title=Northwestern Hires Chris Collins: Instant Analysis|url=http://www.insidenu.com/2013/3/27/5906417/northwestern-hires-chris-collins-instant-analysis|website=Inside NU|date=March 28, 2013}} Collins' hiring was announced March 27, 2013.{{cite web|title=Chris Collins Named Head Men's Basketball Coach|url=http://nusports.com/news/2013/3/27/Chris_Collins_Named_Head_Men_s_Basketball_Coach.aspx|website=Northwestern University}} 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.{{cite web | url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22301201/northwestern-wildcats-running-return-ncaa-tournament-appearance | title=The Year After isn't quite the Year Part II | date=February 2, 2018 }} 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.{{Cite web |last=Ragatz |first=Will |date=2017-06-29 |title=Four-star 2018 forward Pete Nance commits to Northwestern basketball over Michigan, Ohio State |url=https://www.insidenu.com/2017/6/29/15895524/pete-nance-northwestern-basketball-recruiting-best-ever-four-star-larry-nance-chris-collins |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=Inside NU |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Chasen |first=Ben |date=2022-03-14 |title=BREAKING: Chris Collins to remain Northwestern men's basketball's head coach after meeting with AD Derrick Gragg |url=https://www.insidenu.com/2022/3/14/22978252/breaking-chris-collins-to-remain-northwestern-mens-basketballs-head-coach |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=Inside NU |language=en}}

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.{{Cite news |last=Quinn |first=Brendan |title=The official/unofficial Big Ten basketball media poll: Indiana, Illinois are favorites |url=https://theathletic.com/3664020/2022/10/10/big-ten-basketball-indiana-illinois/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=The Athletic |language=en}}

However, Collins led the Wildcats to twelve conference wins, the most for Northwestern since 1931, and the second NCAA tournament berth in program history.{{Cite news |last=Quinn |first=Brendan |title=Big Ten media poll: Purdue's the heavy preseason favorite, but postseason is real question |url=https://theathletic.com/4941919/2023/10/09/big-ten-media-poll-purdue-michigan-state/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=The Athletic |language=en}} They also finished in a tie for second place in Big Ten play, their highest since the 1958-59 season. 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.{{Cite web |last=Cervantes |first=Alex |date=2023-11-06 |title=How Chris Collins plans to bring Northwestern back to the Big Dance |url=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/11/06/lateststories/mens-basketball-chris-collins-engineered-an-incredible-ncaa-tournament-run-last-season-can-he-do-it-again/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=The Daily Northwestern}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Cervantes |first=Alex |date=2023-02-13 |title=NU men's basketball downs No. 1 Purdue in epic 64-58 comeback victory |url=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/02/12/lateststories/mens-basketball-history-made-northwestern-downs-no-1-purdue-in-epic-64-58-comeback/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=The Daily Northwestern}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Cobb |first=David |date=2023-12-02 |title=Northwestern shocks No. 1 Purdue in overtime as Boo Buie comes up clutch in legendary performance |url=https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/northwestern-shocks-no-1-purdue-in-overtime-as-boo-buie-comes-up-clutch-in-legendary-performance/ |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=CBS Sports}}

Following the end of the 2024-25 season, Collins signed an extension.{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/college/northwestern/basketball/northwestern-signing-coach-chris-collins-to-multi-year-extension |title=Northwestern Signing Coach Chris Collins to Multi-Year Extension }}

Head coaching record

{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = | conference = | postseason = | poll = }}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Northwestern Wildcats

| conference = Big Ten Conference

| startyear = 2013

| endyear =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2013–14

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 14–19

| conference = 6–12

| confstanding = T–10th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2014–15

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 15–17

| conference = 6–12

| confstanding = T–10th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2015–16

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 20–12

| conference = 8–10

| confstanding = 9th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2016–17

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 24–12

| conference = 10–8

| confstanding = T–5th

| postseason = NCAA Division I Round of 32

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2017–18

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 15–17

| conference = 6–12

| confstanding = 10th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2018–19

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 13–19

| conference = 4–16

| confstanding = 14th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2019–20

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 8–23

| conference = 3–17

| confstanding = 13th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2020–21

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 9–15

| conference = 6–13

| confstanding = 12th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2021–22

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 15–16

| conference = 7–13

| confstanding = T–10th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2022–23

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 22–12

| conference = 12–8

| confstanding = T–2nd

| postseason = NCAA Division I Round of 32

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2023–24

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 22–12

| conference = 12–8

| confstanding = T–3rd

| postseason = NCAA Division I Round of 32

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2024–25

| name = Northwestern

| overall = 17–16

| conference = 7–13

| confstanding = T-12th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Northwestern

| overall = {{winpct|194|190|record=y}}

| confrecord = {{winpct|87|142|record=y}}

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record End

| overall = {{winpct|194|190|record=y}}

| legend = no

}}

References

External links

[http://nusports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=42&path=mbball Northwestern profile]
[http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=152858 Duke profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927210405/http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=152858 |date=September 27, 2011 }}
[https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/coaches/chris-collins-3.html College Basketball Reference profile]

{{navboxes|list=

{{Succession box| title=Illinois Mr. Basketball Award Winner | before=Howard Nathan | years=1992| after=Rashard Griffith}}

}}

Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:American expatriate basketball people in Finland

Category:American men's basketball coaches

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:American women's basketball coaches

Category:Basketball coaches from Illinois

Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States

Category:Detroit Shock coaches