Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- mbasketball@bsu.edu
- Alma Mater:
- Wisconsin, 1994
- Phone:
- 765-285-8141
- Years at Ball State:
- 8th season in 2020-21
Highlights at Ball State
• Third-winningest coach in program history
• MAC West Division co-championships in 2016, 2017 and 2020
• Averaging 19 wins per season over the past five years, including 21-win campaigns in 2015-16 and 2016-17
• Two ACC road wins, including BSU's first true road win over a top-10 team in program history (at No. 9/8 Notre Dame; Dec. 5, 2017)
• CIT appearances in 2016 and 2017
• Guided the nation's fourth-largest turnaround in 2015-16 (from 7-23 to 21-14)
• Has signed 10 Indiana All-Stars
James Whitford's Ball State tenure has centered around recruiting the talent-rich state of Indiana, developing competitive character in his teams and positioning the Cardinals to compete for championships. He completed his seventh year at Ball State in 2019-20, a season during which he became the third-winningest coach in program history.
Over the past five seasons, with Whitford's culture, roster and playing style firmly in place, Ball State has become one of the most consistent programs in the Mid-American Conference. The Cardinals have averaged 19 wins during that stretch, including a pair of 21-win campaigns, while claiming three MAC West Division championships. Ball State's 33-17 (.660) record against the division over that period is the best of any team in the West by five games. BSU went 9-1 in divisional games in the 2017 league season.
Whitford has also guided Ball State to a pair of signature non-conference wins with road victories over ACC members Notre Dame (2017) and Georgia Tech (2019). The 80-77 victory over the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish, which came during a nine-game winning streak, marked the program's first true road win over a top-10 team and the first win by a MAC program over an AP top-10 squad since 2001 (BSU's Maui Invitational wins over Kansas and UCLA). The win at Georgia Tech came in blowout fashion, as the Cardinals led by as many as 30 in a 65-47 runaway.
Whitford’s teams in 2015-16 and 2016-17 surpassed 20 wins and earned shares of the MAC West Division championship. The program had not achieved the first of those feats in consecutive seasons since the early 1990s and had not accomplished the second in back-to-back years in the league’s divisional history (since 1998). Ball State played in the postseason in each of those campaigns with trips to the CIT, including a quarterfinal appearance at the end of the 2015-16 season. That berth marked the Cardinals’ first trip to the postseason since 2002.
Ball State returned to the top of the division in 2019-20 and earned the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament, the best for the program since 2009, behind All-MAC performers Tahjai Teague and Ishmael El-Amin and MAC Freshman of the Year Jarron Coleman. The Cardinals entered the MAC Tournament with wins in four of their last five games before the postseason was canceled because of COVID-19. It was the third time in the past four seasons under Whitford that BSU earned a first-round bye in the tournament as a top-4 seed.
Whitford recorded his 100th career victory Jan. 18, 2020 against Miami at Worthen Arena and ended the season with 107 wins. He trails only Jim Hinga (154 wins from 1954-68) and Ray McCallum (126 wins from 1993-2000) on the Cardinals' all-time list.
Ball State teams have enjoyed home success under Whitford, winning 70 percent of their games inside Worthen Arena over his past five seasons. The Cardinals went 14-2 at Worthen in 2017-18, finishing one shy of the school record for home court wins. They went 8-1 in MAC home games in 2020 for the program's best home league record since 2002.
Whitford's teams have found success on both ends of the floor. His 2015-16 and 2019-20 teams led the MAC in scoring defense, while his 2016-17 squad ranked second in the league in scoring offense. BSU ranked among the top 15 percent of teams in the country that year with an average of 78.7 points, the program’s highest per-game scoring output in the past 40 years.
Whitford ushered in an era of 3-point shooting in Muncie. Five of the top six outputs from beyond the arc in program history have come during his tenure, including a school-record 319 triples in 2016-17. Seven of BSU's top 10 single-season 3-point totals for individuals have been accomplished by Whitford-coached players.
BSU has snapped dubious losing streaks against MAC heavyweights Akron, Kent State and Ohio during Whitford's tenure, defeating all three in 2018 for the first time in 20 years. The Cardinals' road victory over the Golden Flashes in 2020 was their first since 1999.
Whitford laid the foundation for the future at Ball State during his first two years, installing his system and ramping up the Cardinals’ recruiting efforts. His first two Ball State teams were heavy on youth, with the 2014-15 squad ranking among the 25 youngest in the country.
The 2015-16 season is when the Cardinals took flight, sharing the MAC West title after being picked last in the preseason poll. Coming on the heels of a 7-23 campaign the year before, Ball State’s turnaround to 21-14 ranked as the fourth-largest of any team in the nation. Whitford nearly won MAC Coach of the Year honors, finishing second to Akron’s Keith Dambrot. He tied Dambrot with 14 first-place votes but ended up one point behind the Akron coach in total points (111- 110).
Whitford has recruited 10 Indiana All-Stars to Ball State -- Sean Sellers, Jeremie Tyler, Tahjai Teague, Tayler Persons, Kyle Mallers, Zach Gunn, K.J. Walton, Brachen Hazen, Jarron Coleman and, most recently, Luke Bumbalough. The first eight of those were on the Cardinals’ roster in 2017-18, matching the most on any one college team since Purdue had eight in 1998-99. Ball State had never had more than four Indiana All-Stars on a single roster before Whitford’s tenure. In the decade prior to his arrival in Muncie, the Cardinals signed a total of three.
Sellers, who was part of Whitford’s first full recruiting class, went on to set the program’s all-time record for career 3-pointers. Persons became the first player in program history to record at least 1,500 points and 400 assists in a career, and he did it in just three years. Teague ended his career in 2020 as the only player in program history to rank on the school's top 10 lists for points, rebounds, blocks, steals and field goal percentage.
Ball State has had 10 All-MAC selections under Whitford, highlighted by Teague's first-team selection in 2020. Whitford has coached three MAC All-Defensive Team selections (Teague, Trey Moses and Franko House) and three MAC Freshman of the Year winners (Coleman, Sellers and Zavier Turner). He has coached nearly a dozen Cardinals who have gone on to play professionally overseas.
Whitford was introduced as the 19th men’s basketball coach in Ball State history on April 10, 2013. In his career as an assistant coach at Arizona, Xavier and Miami University, his teams posted an overall record of 400-208 and made 12 postseason appearances. Nine of those came in the NCAA Tournament, including five Sweet Sixteen appearances and two trips to the Elite Eight.
“We are thrilled to add James Whitford to the Ball State family as our new men’s basketball head coach,” former Ball State director of intercollegiate athletics Bill Scholl said upon Whitford's hiring. “In a very talented pool of candidates, James separated himself from the pack based on the success he has experienced at multiple institutions and the vision he has for Ball State basketball.”
Whitford served four years on the staff at Arizona, including his final two as the associate head coach. He was with Arizona head coach Sean Miller for eight seasons, dating back to Miller's days guiding the Xavier program.
Whitford also brought more than a decade of experience with the MAC, having served on the staff at Miami University under Herb Sendek and Charlie Coles for 11 seasons before joining Miller at Xavier.
“In my mind, Ball State offers the best combination of academic excellence, basketball tradition, outstanding arena and fan support of any school in the Mid-American Conference,” Whitford said at his introductory press conference. “When you add the unparalleled recruiting base in the state of Indiana and the great teaching those high school players receive from their various coaches, this job became one I targeted.”
Whitford helped Arizona to an average of 27 wins per season over his final three years in Tucson, including a 30-win campaign in 2010-11 that featured a Pac-10 Conference championship and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats concluded the 2012-13 season with a mark of 27-8 (12-6 Pac-12) and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Whitford served as recruiting coordinator at Arizona and helped the program consistently land nationally ranked signing classes. The Wildcats’ 2012 class was rated as high as third in the country.
Whitford was in charge of developing Arizona’s post players, one of whom, Derrick Williams, became the No. 2 overall selection in the 2011 NBA Draft. He also led the defensive coordination for a Wildcats team that allowed fewer than 64 points per game in each of his final two seasons. The 2012-13 Arizona team outscored its opponents by nearly 10 points per game.
“James is a tireless worker and a relentless recruiter who has helped Miami, Xavier and Arizona all experience tremendous success within their respective conferences and the NCAA Tournament,” Scholl said. “He prides himself in developing young men on and off the basketball court and has an infectious positive energy that will be great for our program.”
Before heading West, Whitford helped the Xavier program to an impressive run during his four years in Cincinnati. The Musketeers posted an overall record of 103-35, won three Atlantic 10 Conference championships and played in the NCAA Tournament all four years. The 2007-08 Xavier team reached the Elite Eight.
Whitford joined the staff at Xavier after working his way up the ranks at Miami, starting as an administrative assistant for two seasons from 1994-96 and rising to the top assistant position under Coles from 1998-2005.
He was a part of three NCAA Tournament appearances at Miami, including the RedHawks’ 1999 Sweet 16 run. Miami won four MAC regular season championships during his time in Oxford, Ohio, and posted an overall record of 201-130.
A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Whitford earned his start in college basketball as a manager at Wisconsin and graduated from the school in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He earned a master’s degree in sports studies from Miami in 1996.
Whitford has two sons, Liam and Spencer.
WHITFORD'S CAREER HEAD COACHING RECORD
| Year | School | Overall Record | Conf. Record | Championships/Postseason |
| 2013-14 | Ball State | 5-25 | 2-16 (MAC) | |
| 2014-15 | Ball State | 7-23 | 2-16 (MAC) | |
| 2015-16 | Ball State | 21-14 | 10-8 (MAC) | MAC West Champions; CIT |
| 2016-17 | Ball State | 21-13 | 11-7 (MAC) | MAC West Champions; CIT |
| 2017-18 | Ball State | 19-13 | 10-8 (MAC) | |
| 2018-19 | Ball State | 16-17 | 6-12 (MAC) | |
| 2019-20 | Ball State | 18-13 | 11-7 (MAC) | MAC West Champions |
| 2020-21 | Ball State | 10-13 | 8-9 (MAC) | |
| Totals | 8 Years | 117-131 | 60-83 |
WHITFORD'S CAREER AS AN ASSISTANT COACH
| Year | School | Position | Overall Record | Postseason |
| 1994-95 | Miami (OH) | Administrative Assistant | 23-7 | NCAA (64) |
| 1995-96 | Miami (OH) | Administrative Assistant | 21-8 | NIT |
| 1996-97 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 21-9 | NCAA (64) |
| 1997-98 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 17-12 | |
| 1998-99 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 24-8 | NCAA (16) |
| 1999-00 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 15-15 | |
| 2000-01 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 17-16 | |
| 2001-02 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 13-18 | |
| 2002-03 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 13-15 | |
| 2003-04 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 18-11 | |
| 2004-05 | Miami (OH) | Assistant Coach | 19-11 | NIT |
| 2005-06 | Xavier | Assistant Coach | 21-11 | NCAA (64) |
| 2006-07 | Xavier | Assistant Coach | 25-9 | NCAA (32) |
| 2007-08 | Xavier | Assistant Coach | 30-7 | NCAA (8) |
| 2008-09 | Xavier | Assistant Coach | 27-8 | NCAA (16) |
| 2009-10 | Arizona | Assistant Coach | 16-15 | |
| 2010-11 | Arizona | Assistant Coach | 30-8 | NCAA (8) |
| 2011-12 | Arizona | Associate Head Coach | 23-12 | NIT |
| 2012-13 | Arizona | Associate Head Coach | 27-8 | NCAA (16) |
| Totals | 19 Years | 400-208 |
