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Jimmy Collins (basketball)

American basketball player and coach (1946–2020)

Field	Value
name	Jimmy Collins
image	File:Jimmy Earl Collins.jpg
birth_date
birth_place	Syracuse, New York, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
height_ft	6
height_in	2
weight_lb	210
high_school	Corcoran (Syracuse, New York)
college	New Mexico State (1967–1970)
career_number	22
career_position	Shooting guard
career_start	1970
career_end	1972
draft_year	1970
draft_round	1
draft_pick	11
coach_start	1973
coach_end	2010
years1	–
team1	Chicago Bulls
cyears1	1973–1974
cteam1	New Mexico State (GA)
cyears2	1980–1983
cteam2	St. Thomas Elementary
cyears3	1983–1996
cteam3	Illinois (assistant)
cyears4	1996–2010
cteam4	UIC

As player:

Consensus second-team All-American (1970) As head coach:
2× Horizon League tournament champion (2002, 2004)
Horizon League regular season champion (1998)
Horizon League Coach of the Year (1997)

James Earl Collins (November 24, 1946 – December 13, 2020) was an American basketball player and coach. He was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, where he attended Corcoran High School. Collins was the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1996 to 2010, becoming the program's all-time winningest coach and leading UIC to its first-ever postseason appearances - NCAA tournament appearances in 1998, 2002 and 2004, and an NIT showing in 2003.

He was the father of the writer Brandi Collins-Dexter.

Early life and playing career

Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, son of Early Collins, who was a funeral director, and to Lorraine Collins née Varnarsdale, who worked in the nursing field. Jimmy Collins graduated from Corcoran High School and played college basketball at New Mexico State University under head coach Lou Henson. As a senior, Collins was the captain of an Aggie squad that reached the 1970 Final Four.

Collins was then drafted in the first round of the 1970 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.

Coaching career

Collins began his coaching career with one and a half years as a graduate assistant at New Mexico State after retiring from professional basketball. In 1976, Collins returned to Chicago to start a trucking business. From 1977 to 1983, Collins was a probation officer for Cook County, Illinois. Collins also returned to coaching in 1980 as volunteer head coach at St. Thomas Elementary School in Chicago.

From 1983 to 1996, Collins was an assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) under Lou Henson. There he had made a name for himself as one of the nation's best recruiters, helping lure Chicago area players such as Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Deon Thomas and the bulk of the Fighting Illini's 1989 Final Four team.

In 1996, Collins became head coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). In 14 seasons, Collins had a 218–208 record, including three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998, 2002, and 2004. On July 20, 2010, Collins announced his retirement from coaching.

Collins died on December 13, 2020, at age 74.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

References

[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n22_v89/ai_18190382 Jimmy Collins accepts head coaching job at University of illinois-Chicago] {{webarchive. link. (2007-02-12 , April 15, 1996)
"Jimmy Collins". UIC Flames.
Markus, Robert. (February 1, 1990). "Illini's Collins Has Reputation On Line". Chicago Tribune.
(April 26, 1983). "Ex-Bull Collins new Illini assistant". Chicago Tribune.
"Jimmy Collins Coaching Record".
[https://www.espn.com/chicago/news/story?id=5396582 Collins leaving UIC after 14 years]
(December 13, 2020). "Jimmy Collins, former UIC coach and Illinois assistant, dies at 74". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
"Jimmy Collins NBA stats". Sports Reference LLC.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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