Bruiser Flint - Men's Basketball Coach - Indiana University Athletics

Bruiser Flint

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
mbasket@indiana.edu
Phone:
(812) 855-2238

• James “Bruiser” Flint is in his fourth year at Indiana and more than 30 years of coaching experience to Archie Miller’s staff. The Philadelphia native spent 20 years as a Division I head coach and won 331 games while leading Drexel (2001-16) and UMass (1996-01). Four times he was named Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year (2002, 2004, 2009 and 2012) and NABC District Coach of the Year (1998, 2007, 2009 and 2012).

• He has been part of a staff that produced the No. 7 recruiting class nationally in 2018 and the No. 13 class in 2020 including Indiana Mr. Basketball winners Romeo Langford (2018), Trayce Jackson-Davis (2019) and Anthony Leal (2020). Langford and Jackson-Davis were named McDonald’s All-Americans and Khristian Lander earned All-American honors from MaxPreps in 2020. In addition, Langford, who was a lottery pick by the Boston Celtics and Juwan Morgan who earned a contract with the Utah Jazz, both have begun their NBA careers.

• Last season, Indiana finished 20-12 and was poised to return to the NCAA Tournament before the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. The Hoosiers also finished with a winning record against nationally ranked teams with five victories, which was tied for 7^th most in the country. IU also improved to 26^th in the country in adjusted defense according to KenPom. The team also posted a 3.398 grade point average in the spring semester and a perfect 1.000 score on the APR for 2018-19. Jackson-Davis earned All-Freshman and third-team All-Big Ten accolades.

• In 2018-19, the Hoosiers earned their first national ranking since 2017 and were rated as high as 21st in the country. IU finished with 19 wins and won two post season games in the NIT, beat four nationally ranked teams and also improved to 32nd in adjusted defense after finishing 65th in 2017-18. IU also finished 36th in the country in blocked shots.

• Flint is the all-time winningest coach at Drexel with 245 victories and led the Dragons to 20 or more wins three times and had at least 10 CAA wins in nine of his seasons at the school. Flint picked up his 300th career win in November of 2013 when the Dragons defeated Elon, 71-64, in the NIT Season Tip-Off. During his tenure, the Dragons had the CAA Defensive Player of the Year on four occasions, 23 All-CAA selections, 12 members of the conference’s All-Defensive team, six players named to the league’s All-Rookie team and two CAA Rookies of the Year.

• Flint’s Dragons had a record-breaking season in 2011-12. His squad set a school record with 29 wins and won the CAA regular-season title, going 16-2. The Dragons won a program-best 19 straight games and advanced to the CAA title game for the second time ever. Drexel came up just three points short against VCU in front of a sellout crowd in Richmond. Drexel then appeared for the fifth time under Flint in the NIT.

• His teams were an unfriendly foe for some of the nation’s top teams. In 2010-11, Drexel stunned No. 20 Louisville, handing the Cardinals their first-ever loss in the new Yum Center. The Dragons also defeated NCAA teams Old Dominion and VCU. In 2006-07, on its way to a 23-9 overall record, Drexel won 13 road games (tied for most in Division I). The Dragons won at Syracuse, Villanova and Creighton. Flint became the first coach in Drexel history ever to beat three Philadelphia Big 5 teams in one season. Flint returned home to his native Philadelphia when he took over as Drexel’s head coach on April 5, 2001.

• After serving as an assistant at UMass for seven seasons under John Calipari, Flint took over the leadership of the Minutemen and spent five seasons in Amherst where he guided them to two NCAA Tournaments and a NIT berth. He also posted the best record of any first-year coach UMass has ever had. As an assistant he was part of five NCAA Tournament teams and saw the 1996 squad advance to the Final Four.

• He has had three stints with coaching with USA Basketball. Flint was an assistant in 2007 for the USA U-19 National Team in Serbia. In 2005, Flint was an assistant coach for the USA U-21 World Championship Team that went 7-1 in Argentina. His first stint came as a court coach prior to the Global Games.

• He began his coaching career as an assistant at Coppin State from 1987-89. A 1987 Saint Joseph’s graduate, Flint, 51, was a four-year letterwinner with the Hawks. He earned All-Atlantic 10 honors as a senior and led the Hawks to the 1986 A-10 championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament as a junior. He was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

• He has a daughter, Jada.