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An NCAA Tournament berth. The 2009 Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and MWC regular-season crown. A top-25 national ranking. Third-year head coach and reigning NABC Region 17 Coach of the Year Jim Boylen has already crossed these items off his checklist and has no plans to stop there.
In his first two years as the Utah head men's basketball coach, Boylen has quickly built an impressive resume and captured the attention of the entire college basketball community. Last year he coached the Runnin' Utes to a 24-10 record and a rare conference championship double, winning a share of the regular-season title and the tournament crown. Not only did Utah secure the MWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but it also earned the highest seed ever awarded to an MWC team, a No. 5 slot in the Midwest Region. Utah finished the year ranked No. 25 in the AP poll after cracking the Top 25 earlier in the season for the first time since 2005.
Under Boylen's tutelage, senior center Luke Nevill was named an Honorable Mention AP All-American after earning MWC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and MWC Tournament MVP honors. Nevill played in the 2009 NBA Summer League with the New Orleans Hornets.
Boylen's first season, the 2007-08 campaign, saw the squad compile its first winning record since 2005, earning a berth in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. Boylen's impact was felt immediately on the defensive end of the floor. The Utes finished the season ranked No. 73 in field goal percentage defense after ranking No. 322 of 325 teams the season before his arrival.
Boylen became the 14th men's head basketball coach at the University of Utah on March 27, 2007. He now enters his 22nd year in the coaching ranks, both collegiately and professionally.
After working in the NBA for 13 years, Boylen served as the top assistant to Tom Izzo at Michigan State during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. During that time, he helped direct the Spartans to a 45-24 record and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
Michigan State advanced to the second round of the NCAA's in 2007 and ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in three defensive categories: 7th in scoring defense (57.2 ppg), 7th in field goal percentage defense (38.4) and 9th in rebounding margin (+7.0 rpg).
Boylen began his coaching career at Michigan State 20 years earlier as a graduate assistant under former head coach Jud Heathcote from 1987-92. After serving as a G.A. for two seasons, Boylen was promoted to a full-time assistant in 1989, a role that he remained in for three years. The Spartans won the Big Ten Conference title and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in 1990. MSU also reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1991 and 1992. Boylen made his jump to the NBA the following season.
Boylen joined the Houston Rockets as a video coordinator in 1992 and was promoted to assistant coach two years later. The Rockets went on to win back-to-back NBA Championships in 1994 and 1995 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 1997.
During Boylen's 11-year stint in Houston, the Rockets made seven playoff appearances and had just two losing seasons. While in Houston, he worked with four of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon and Scottie Pippen.
With the Rockets, he also worked under one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, Rudy Tomjanovich. Boylen's duties included skill development, game and practice preparation, working with the perimeter players, as well as positioning and shooting. He was also in charge of team and opponent analysis.
In 2003-04, Boylen worked as an assistant coach at Golden State. He spent the 2004-05 season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
A native of East Grand Rapids, Mich., Boylen received his bachelor's degree in business from Maine in 1987.
Boylen captained the Black Bears' basketball team as a junior and senior and earned first-team all-North Atlantic Conference honors in his final year, averaging 21 points per game. He finished second in the conference Player of the Year voting to Northeastern's Reggie Lewis.
Boylen and his wife, Christine, have two daughters, Ashlen Clare and Layla Blue.
