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(May 2, 2007) - Jim Wooldridge
has been named the sixth coach in the history of the UC Riverside
Men's Basketball program and was formally introduced to the
media and public in a press conference on Thursday, May 3rd.
Wooldridge has a 312-237
record in 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach. The Oklahoma
City, OK native has earned the reputation as a skilled program
builder and coach whose teams emphasize teamwork, hard-nosed
defense and rebounding.
"Jim Wooldridge brings
a wealth of knowledge about what it takes to build a program
and to position a team to not only compete, but to win,"
Director of Athletics Stan Morrison said. "His single
focus will be immediately apparent to his players, assistants,
and colleagues in the department. At the same time, he will
be in our community in a number of ways and he will serve
as a wonderful ambassador of his program, our department of
athletics and our university."
Wooldridge has coached at
the collegiate or professional level for 29 years, including
stops as head coach at Central Missouri State, Texas State,
Louisiana Tech and Kansas State and two years as an assistant
coach to Tim Floyd with the Chicago Bulls.
Wooldridge spent six years
at Kansas State (2000-01 through 2005-06), leading the Wildcats
to their first winning season in six years in the 2004-05
season when the team posted a 17-12 record in the Big 12 Conference.
His teams never finished with fewer than 11 wins and his 83
wins rank sixth on Kansas State’s all-time wins list.
Wooldridge saw six players
earn All-Big 12 honors and coached 2004 Big 12 Newcomer of
the Year Jeremiah Massey. Guard Larry Reid (2002), forwards
Cartier Martin (2006, 2007) and Massey (2005) each earned
All-Big 12 second team honors during their careers.
In 1998-99 and 1999-00,
Wooldridge worked as an assistant coach under former college
teammate Floyd. He was instrumental in the development of
several top NBA players, including 1999-2000 Co-Rookie of
the Year Elton Brand and Ron Artest, who earned All-Rookie
team honors in 1999-2000. He was considered the staff authority
on the triangle offense, having taught it as the head coach
at Louisiana Tech, and learned it from friend and triangle
“guru” Tex Winter.
Wooldridge started his collegiate
coaching career as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech in
the 1977-78 season, then spent four years as an assistant
coach at the NAIA’s East Central State. He returned
to the NCAA in 1982 as a member of Lynn Nance’s staff
at Division II Central Missouri State, where he was the program’s
chief recruiter. When Nance left following the 1985 season,
Wooldridge was named head coach. He led the team to 20-or-more
wins four times, including a 27-6 season in which they lost
to CS Bakersfield in the NCAA Finals. Wooldridge is the only
coach in CMSU history to record back-to-back 25-win seasons
(1989-90 and 1990-91). For his efforts, Wooldridge was inducted
into the Central Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame on February
28, 2004.
He made his Division I head
coaching debut when he was hired at Texas State (then Southwest
Texas State) in 1991-92. He turned around a program that had
suffered through seven consecutive sub-.500 seasons, getting
the program above .500 in his second season. By his third
year, the squad was 25-7 and made the Bobcats' first trip
to the NCAA tournament.
From there, Wooldridge was
hired at his alma mater, Louisiana Tech. He took over a program
that had won just nine games the previous two years combined
and guided the Bulldogs to a pair of winning seasons in his
first three seasons, including a 14-13 record in his first
campaign. It was a remarkable improvement considering Louisiana
Tech was coming off NCAA probation and a 2-25 record the previous
season (1993-94). Even more impressive was the fact that the
Bulldogs posted a .500 conference slate (9-9) in Wooldridge’s
inaugural season, after going winless in Sun Belt play the
year before (0-18).
Wooldridge played on Putnam
City High School’s class 4A state championship team
in Oklahoma City in 1972. He earned his bachelor’s degree
in physical education from Louisiana Tech in 1977, then earned
a master’s degree in education from East Central University
in 1979. Wooldridge and his wife, Ann, have two children,
Jamie and Eric.
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