Introduction
James R. Molinari (born December 26, 1954) is an American basketball coach and lawyer. Molinari is an assistant coach at Oklahoma. He formerly served as an assistant coach at Nebraska and as former head coach of the Western Illinois University Leathernecks, where he served from 2008 to 2014.Prior to being named coach at WIU, Molinari was as assistant coach at Ball State University after serving as the interim head coach at the University of Minnesota, replacing Dan Monson on November 30, 2006 and being succeeded by Tubby Smith on March 22, 2007.Previously, he served as head men's basketball coach at Northern Illinois University and Bradley University. He also was a scout for the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat.
Molinari graduated from Glenbard West High School, where he starred on its varsity boys' basketball team. He first attended Kansas State from 1973 to 1975, lettering twice for Jack Hartman's Wildcats. A 6'1" (1.85 meters) guard who wore uniform number 30, he appeared in 22 games, including a 95–87 defeat to Syracuse in the NCAA East Regional Final at the Providence Civic Center on March 22, 1975.
Molinari graduated from the DePaul University College of Law, earning his juris doctor in 1980. He passed the Bar Exam. Molinari spent eleven seasons as an assistant coach for both Ray and Joey Meyer at DePaul University. He accepted the head coaching job at Bradley University on April 12, 1991.
Molinari and his ex-wife Carol are the parents of four children. Two went on to play college basketball. Billy played at Western Illinois University under Molinari. David played one year at Illinois Wesleyan University and walked onto DePaul for the 2014–2015 season.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Illinois Huskies (NCAA Division I independent) | |||||||||
| 1989–90 | Northern Illinois | 17–11 | |||||||
| Northern Illinois Huskies (Mid-Continent Conference) | |||||||||
| 1990–91 | Northern Illinois | 25–6 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| Northern Illinois: | 42–17 (.712) | 14–2 (.875) | |||||||
| Bradley Braves (Missouri Valley Conference) | |||||||||
| 1991–92 | Bradley | 7–23 | 3–15 | 9th | |||||
| 1992–93 | Bradley | 11–16 | 7–11 | 7th | |||||
| 1993–94 | Bradley | 23–8 | 14–4 | 2nd | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| 1994–95 | Bradley | 20–10 | 12–6 | 4th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 1995–96 | Bradley | 22–8 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1996–97 | Bradley | 17–13 | 12–6 | 2nd | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 1997–98 | Bradley | 15–14 | 9–9 | 5th | |||||
| 1998–99 | Bradley | 17–12 | 11–7 | 2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1999–00 | Bradley | 14–16 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2000–01 | Bradley | 19–12 | 12–6 | 2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2001–02 | Bradley | 9–20 | 5–13 | 8th | |||||
| Bradley: | 174–152 (.534) | 110–88 (.556) | |||||||
| Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten Conference) | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | Minnesota | 7–17 | 3–13 | 9th | |||||
| Minnesota: | 7–17 (.292) | 3–13 (.188) | |||||||
| Western Illinois Leathernecks (Summit League) | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | Western Illinois | 9–20 | 6–12 | T–8th | |||||
| 2009–10 | Western Illinois | 13–17 | 6–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 2010–11 | Western Illinois | 7–23 | 2–16 | 9th | |||||
| 2011–12 | Western Illinois | 18–15 | 9–9 | T–4th | CBI First Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | Western Illinois | 22–7 | 13–3 | T–1st | CBI First Round | ||||
| 2013–14 | Western Illinois | 10–20 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| Western Illinois: | 79–104 (.432) | 40–62 (.392) | |||||||
| Total: | 302–290 (.510) | ||||||||
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