When Jacksonville State wanted to get its basketball program headed in the right direction, it wanted to turn to someone who had already enjoyed a great deal of success at the highest level. On April 23, 2008, the University introduced James Green as the 10th head basketball coach in the school’s rich and tradition-filled history.
A 13-year veteran of the Division I head coaching ranks, Green took over a team looking to move towards the top of the Ohio Valley Conference after spending much of its first five years in the league towards the bottom of the standings.
After a very successful career as an assistant at some of the most prominent schools in the nation, Green received his first shot at a Division I head coaching job in 1996, when Southern Miss tabbed him to succeed 20-year veteran M.K. Turk. Since that time, Green has put together a resume that includes two conference coach of the year awards, three conference titles and four postseason tournament berths.
Green has led two programs at the nation’s highest level to the NCAA Tournament and has done so as recently as in 2008, when he guided his Mississippi Valley State squad into the field of 64.
Green comes to Jacksonville State from Mississippi Valley State, where a three-year stint produced the 2007 Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season championship and the 2008 SWAC Tournament Title, an achievement that sent the Delta Devils to the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in school history.
He took over the MVSU program in 2005 and after a building year in his inaugural season, he guided the Delta Devils to a 13-5 SWAC record in 2006-07 and the SWAC’s regular season title. Green’s squad put together an 18-16 overall record with a schedule that featured the likes of Creighton, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Southern Cal and LSU. After guiding the Delta Devils to the school’s second league crown in five years and trip to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), Green was selected as the SWAC’s Coach of the Year.
One year later, Green’s Delta Devils posted a 13-5 league record to finish second before rolling to the SWAC Tournament title, thanks to a nine-game winning streak that culminated with a 59-58 win over Jackson State in the tournament’s championship game. MVSU would travel to Anaheim, where they would face eventual Final Four participant UCLA.
Prior to his stint at MVSU, Green spent eight seasons at the helm of the Southern Miss hoops program. In his career with the Golden Eagles, Green’s teams posted a combined 123-109 record and the school’s first Conference USA title.
Green took over a team that posted a 12-15 record before his arrival and, within two seasons, led the 1997-98 Golden Eagles to a 22-11 record and a trip to the NIT. The Golden Eagles would win 17 games in 2000, on year before their second 20-win campaign under Green in 2001. In that season, Green was tabbed by his peers as the C-USA Coach of the Year after guiding USM to a 22-9 overall record, an 11-5 conference mark, C-USA’s regular-season crown and another trip to the NIT.
Before moving to Southern Miss, Green served four stints as a Division I assistant, serving two seasons each at Idaho, Texas A&M, Alabama and Iowa State. As an assistant, Green was a part of five NCAA Tournament teams, two at Iowa State, one at Alabama and two at Idaho, who claimed back-to-back Big Sky championships in his two-year stint.
Prior to moving into the college coaching ranks, Green took the reigns of a struggling program at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., and before his four-year stay was over, he received Metro Coach of the Year accolades and turned JHHS into the Mississippi State runners-up.
Green is a 1983 graduate of Mississippi, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics education. During an injury-plagued playing career with the Rebels, Green was a part of the 1981 SEC Tournament Championship team, and three NIT squads.
Green has one son, Bryan.
