Jim Whitesell joined the UAlbany men’s basketball program as an Assistant Coach ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Whitesell came to the Capital Region after spending the previous four seasons at the helm of the University at Buffalo basketball program. In his first season as head coach in Buffalo, Whitesell led the Bulls to a 20-12 record, becoming only the second head coach in school history to win 20 games in his first year as head coach. Buffalo led the nation in rebounding during the 2019-20 season and Whitesell coached two Mid-American Conference (MAC) major award winners as Ronaldo Segu was named the MAC Sixth Man of the Year and Davonta Jordan was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, Junior Jayvon Graves was named First-Team All MAC.
In the 2020-21 season, Whitesell led the Bulls to a 16-9 record in a COVID-19 shortened season. The Bulls earned a trip to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship game and an appearance in the NIT, just the second in school history. Three UB players earned second-team All-MAC honors, while Josh Mballa was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2021-22, the Bulls finished with a 19-11 record and earned another trip to the MAC Tournament. Jeenathan Williams was named to the First Team All-MAC list, as Ronaldo Segu and Josh Mballa were Second Team All-MAC honorees. Last season, his team finished the year with an overall record of 15-17, going 9-9 in conference play. The Bulls made it to the MAC Tournament as the No. 6, cementing a playoff berth in all four years under Whitesell.
Before being named head coach in Buffalo, Whitesell spent four seasons as an associate head coach under Nate Oats. The Bulls completed their most successful four-year stretch in school history during that time, capped by a school and Mid-American Conference-record 32 wins during the 2018-19 season and 19 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, including a mark as high as 14th in the nation. The Bulls won three Mid-American Conference titles during that period, while winning NCAA Tournament games in each of the last two seasons.
Whitesell arrived in Buffalo after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at St. John’s, helping lead the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15. Whitesell has spent 24 seasons as a head coach at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels prior to his time with the St. Louis Billikens, and brings over 40 years of collegiate coaching experience to UAlbany.
At St. Louis, Whitesell served as Associate Head Coach for the nationally-ranked Billikens during a pair of NCAA Tournament runs in 2011-12 and 2012-13, where SLU's combined record was 54-15. Hired by late Saint Louis head coach Rick Majerus, Whitesell was a part of a record-setting campaign at SLU in 2012-13, where the Billikens posted an all-time best 28-7 mark, captured the Atlantic 10 regular season and championship tournament title, reached the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament, and finished the season with a national No. 13/16 ranking. In 2011-12, Whitesell helped Saint Louis post a 26-8 record, the third-most wins in program history. The Billikens earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and topped Memphis in the Second Round.
Whitesell joined SLU after spending the previous seven seasons as the head coach at Loyola (Chicago). Prior to his time with the Ramblers, Whitesell was head coach at NCAA Division II Lewis University (Ill.) (1992-2004) and NCAA Division III Elmhurst College (Ill.) (1987-92). He amassed a career record of 387-301 in 24 seasons. Whitesell also served in assistant coaching roles at North Dakota (1982-83 - graduate assistant), Ellsworth C.C. (Iowa) (1983-84), Wabash Valley C.C. (Iowa) (1984-85) and Minnesota State (1985-87).
