Brian James

Biography

Brian James enters his 13th season on staff at Northwestern on head coach Chris Collins’ staff and begins his fourth season as special assistant to the head coach in 2025-26. James, who has been a part of three NCAA Tournament team in Evanston, is in charge of working with Northwestern's post players and out of bounds plays. He is credited for drawing up “The Play,” Nathan Taphorn’s length-of-the-court pass to Dererk Pardon that resulted in a buzzer-beating 67-65 win for Northwestern over Michigan in 2017 that all but clinched NU’s first NCAA tournament berth in program history. During his time in Evanston, James has worked with the top three shot blockers in school history in Alex Olah, Pardon and Matthew Nicholson. Northwestern has recorded its top four shot blocking seasons in program history during James’ tenure. Most recently in 2024-25, Nicholson recorded a career-best 45 blocks and became the first player in program history to register three seasons of 40+ rejections. The Wildcats posted their third straight winning season and Nick Martinelli became the first Wildcat to lead the Big Ten in scoring since 2011-12 (John Shurna), averaging 20.5 points per game, the highest scoring average by a Wildcat since Evan Eschmeyer (21.7) in 1997-98. Martinelli was named All-Big Ten Second Team. Brooks Barnhizer, who was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and NABC All-District Second Team, posted averages of 17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game