Press "Enter" to skip to content

Greensboro College hires one of nation's winningest coaches for men's basketball

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – Greensboro College has hired a new men’s basketball coach who has won more games than most of his active colleagues.

Jim Boone, the coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith the past four seasons, is moving to Greensboro and bringing with him more than 600 career victories – fifth most among active NCAA-II coaches and among the 25 most at all levels – and trips to two NCAA-II final fours during more than four decades of coaching.

Jim Boone is the new men’s basketball coach at Greensboro College (GCC PHOTO)

Boone’s appointment was announced in a release Tuesday by Greensboro College President Lawrence D. Czarda and Director of Athletics Kim Strable, and Czarda called Boone “one of the most respected and successful basketball coaches in the country.”

https://embed.sendtonews.com/player4/embedcode.js?fk=ThMj3EBx&cid=9867&offsety=140&floatwidth=400&floatposition=top-right

Boone, 64, said in the release that he is “committed to being bold, to being aggressive, and to being different in our relentless efforts to restore the pride and integrity to the GC basketball program.

“We’re going to outwork our competition, we’re going to create an edge with our passion, toughness, servanthood and unity. We will have an everyday ‘Hard Hat Lunch Pail’ approach to rebuilding Greensboro basketball and restoring the tradition of The Pride.”

Greensboro College, featuring only two seniors, finished the 2022-23 season at 10-15, going 5-9 and finishing seventh in the 8-team USA South Athletic Conference. Jim Cantanmessa left the program earlier this month after going 38-56 in three seasons.

Boone has coached 37 years at various stops, compiling a career record of 602-469, including 12-16 at UAFS last season. He is one of about 122 coaches at all levels in the history of college basketball to have won 600 or more games. FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton was just ahead of him on the career victories list among active coaches heading into this past season.

Most of Boone’s victories were in NCAA-II, but he also spent nine seasons in NCAA Division I, coaching four at Robert Morris and five at Eastern Michigan (1997-2005), compiling a 93-162 record, although he increased the winning percentages dramatically at each school.

Boone had great success in the 1980s and ‘90s at California University of Pennsylvania, where he won 228 games, had a No. 1-ranked team and went to two NCAA-II Final Fours in six seasons. Overall he has taken his teams to 12 NCAA Tournaments, including six appearances in the Sweet 16 along with those Final Fours.

Former Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest college basketball coach ever. (WGHP)

“Jim Boone is an outstanding person and coach,” former Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in basketball history, said in the release announcing Boone’s hiring. “With over 600 wins, Jim is someone of courage, ability and a tremendous leader.”

Boone played collegiately at West Virginia State College, where he graduated with a degree in accounting in 1981. He earned an MBA with a concentration in marketing at the University of Kentucky in 1982, the release said. He is married and the father of two sons.

“We were taken by the genuine family atmosphere and support that permeates through the GC Campus,” Boone said in the release. “The leadership and alignment that exist from Dr. Czarda to Coach Strable, to their team of coaches, was very evident. We could definitely feel the passion, the sincere caring, and the support they have for their coaches, students, and the College. We couldn’t be more excited to be a member of the Pride.”


Source: Fox 8 News Channel

Be First to Comment

    Leave a Reply