James Green Out at Jacksonville State

Editor: This is a press release from JSUGamecocks.com

JACKSONVILLE – After eight years as the head coach at Jacksonville State, James Green and JSU have mutually agreed that he will not return for the 2016-17 season.

Green became the 10th head coach in JSU’s history and the fourth since the team moved up to Division I prior to the 1995-96 season in the spring of 2008. He took over a program facing academic trouble and revived the program’s performance in the classroom.

“I want to thank Coach Green for his years of service and recognize the work he and all of his assistants have done in support of our student-athletes,” said JSU Athletics Director Greg Seitz. “There is no question that our men’s basketball program is in much better shape now than when Coach Green took over eight years ago.”

Green posted an 89-153 record over eight seasons as the Gamecocks’ head man and took JSU to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament twice. JSU would have qualified in 2012-13 with a 17-11 record and 8-8 mark in conference play, but the second-best season in JSU’s Division I history was hampered by an NCAA postseason ban levied because of an APR situation inherited when he was hired.

During his eight years as the head coach of the Gamecocks, only one senior on Green’s rosters hasn’t received his degree or is still in school working toward graduation. The only exception on that list is Nick Murphy, the program’s career scoring and rebounding leader at the Division I level, who was drafted by the NBA Developmental League following his senior season and left to pursue a career in professional basketball.

“We will begin a national search immediately for a replacement,” said JSU President Dr. John M. Beehler. “We will look for someone to lead our program who will have the Gamecocks competing for conference championships and advancing to the postseason on a regular basis. We continue to value student-success academically and as citizens in our community.”

Seitz announced that assistant coach Reggie Sharp will serve as interim head coach during the coaching search.

“Reggie will be running the day-to-day operations of our basketball program as we move forward with our coaching search,” said Seitz. “Reggie has been on our staff for the last five years and has a great understanding of our basketball program and operations.”

STATEMENT FROM JAMES GREEN
“We are proud of the things we were able to accomplish in eight years at Jacksonville State. I’ve made numerous friendships that I will cherish for the rest my life. I especially want to thank the other coaches in the department for helping make this place such a great place to work for the past eight years.”

“I want to thank all of the players that have come here and made the commitment towards the betterment of the program. This is a good place for our players to be and I hope they will stay here and win the championship they came here to win. I also want to thank all of the assistants that have been here and the time they’ve put in to make this a great place to play basketball.”

“I always had the best interest of the program in mind in every decision made during my time here, even though some of those didn’t result in more wins on the court. We were able to do some things in our scheduling that brought over $2 million to the university, even though it made our non-conference schedules much more difficult.”

“I’m proud that Jacksonville State basketball is better than it was when I took over eight years ago, on the court and off. We took over a program that had low APR numbers and now holds a four-year score that is well above the minimum standard, and that is a result of the commitment of our players and staff members.”