John Brannen (basketball)
| Sport(s) | Men's basketball |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Northern Kentucky |
| Conference | Horizon League |
| Record | 33–32 (.508) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
January 18, 1974 Alexandria, Kentucky |
| Playing career | |
| 1995–1997 | Marshall |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1999–2000 | Charleston (asst.) |
| 2000–2003 | Eastern Kentucky (asst.) |
| 2003–2006 | St. Bonaventure (asst.) |
| 2006–2009 | VCU (asst.) |
| 2009–2013 | Alabama (asst.) |
| 2013–2015 | Alabama (assoc. HC) |
| 2015 | Alabama (interim) |
| 2015–present | Northern Kentucky |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 34–33 (.507) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Horizon League tournament championship (2017) | |
| Awards | |
| Horizon League Coach of the Year (2017) | |
John Brannen (born January 18, 1974) is an American basketball coach and the current men's basketball coach of the Northern Kentucky University Norse. Brannen previously spent nine seasons as an assistant coach to Anthony Grant at both VCU and Alabama. For the Tide's two games in the 2015 National Invitation Tournament, Brannen served as interim head coach. Brannen is a Kentucky-native and was named the head coach of NKU, the fifth in program history, on April 7, 2015.[1][2]
Coaching career
Brannen held assistant coaching positions at Charleston, Eastern Kentucky and St. Bonaventure before being hired by former Marshall assistant Anthony Grant, who had just been named head coach at VCU. Brannen spent three seasons at VCU before following Grant to Alabama, where he was an assistant for six seasons (the last two as associate head coach). When Grant was fired following the Tide's 2015 SEC Tournament loss, Brannen was named interim head coach for the team's NIT appearance.[3][4] The Tide were knocked out of the tournament by Miami[5] in the second round following a first round home win over Illinois.[6]
In 2017, Brannen led the Norse to the Horizon League championship and the NCAA tournament in the school's first season of full Division I eligibility.[7]
Playing career
Brannen started his collegiate career at Morehead State before transferring to Marshall for his final two seasons. As a senior, Brannen led the Southern Conference in scoring and was named the league tournament MVP. Brannen played two seasons of professional basketball in Belgium's First Division before returning to the States to begin his coaching career.
Personal life
Brannen is married to the former Lisa Elswick, with whom he has twin daughters. He is originally from Alexandria, Kentucky. He received his bachelor's degree in business management from Marshall University in 1997 and was a Rhodes Scholar finalist as a college senior.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama Crimson Tide (Southeastern Conference) (2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Alabama | 1–1 | 0–0 | NIT Second Round | |||||
| Alabama: | 1–1 (.500) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
| Northern Kentucky Norse (Horizon League) (2015–present) | |||||||||
| 2015–16 | Northern Kentucky | 9–21 | 5–13 | 8th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Northern Kentucky | 24–11 | 12–6 | T–3rd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| Northern Kentucky: | 33–32 (.508) | 17–19 (.472) | |||||||
| Total: | 34–33 (.507) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ↑ "John Brannen welcomed as men's basketball head coach". NKUNorse.com. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ↑ "Ex-Alabama assistant John Brannen named head coach at Atlantic Sun Conference school". AL.com. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ↑ "Alabama assistant John Brannen named interim head coach". The Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ↑ "Alabama assistant John Brannen named interim head coach". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ↑ "Alabama vs. Miami - Game Recap - March 21, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ↑ "Alabama goes off on Illinois, crushing Illini in NIT 48 hours after Anthony Grant fired". AL.com. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ↑ "John Brannen Bio". Retrieved 2017-05-02.