After guiding the Northwestern men’s basketball team to its second NCAA Tournament appearance and a second-place finish in the Big Ten Conference regular season standings in 2022-23, Sullivan-Ubben Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Collins has signed a three-year contract extension through 2028, Combe Family Vice President for Athletics & Recreation Dr. Derrick Gragg announced today.
“It has been an honor to be the Head Coach at Northwestern University for the last 10 years. The Northwestern community has become our family’s home, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue this journey,” said Collins. “I am thankful to President Schill and Dr. Gragg for showing the confidence in me to continue to lead Northwestern Basketball. It’s a responsibility that I love and embrace. To have the opportunity to be a part of accomplishing so many firsts in the history of the basketball program during my tenure has been special, and I can’t wait to get to work to pursue more amazing moments in the future.”
“The success Coach Collins achieved last season and the momentum he has built around our men’s basketball program is a remarkable accomplishment. Chris is a proven recruiter of high-character student-athletes that represent Northwestern University in a first-class manner both on and off the court,” said Gragg. “I am excited to continue working with Chris, and extremely optimistic about the future of Northwestern men’s basketball under his leadership.”
The only coach in the program’s 118-year history to take the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament, Collins’ 2022-23 team recorded the most Big Ten Conference wins in a single-season in program history and the second-most total wins in a season by going 22-12 overall and 12-8 in conference play. For the first time since 1958-59, Northwestern earned a second-place finish in the Big Ten. Northwestern defeated the nation’s No. 1 team for the first time in school history by downing Purdue 64-58 on Sunday, Feb. 12 inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. The arena was sold out a record four times in a season for the first time since Welsh-Ryan underwent a massive facelift in 2018. The ‘Cats four wins on the year over ranked competition was also a program record.
Collins earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors from both the coaches and media, becoming just the second coach in program history to win the award, and was selected as the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year. He oversaw the development of the league’s best backcourt as Chase Audige was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team All-Big Ten, and Boo Buie received First Team All-Big Ten recognition. Additionally, assistant coach Chris Lowery grabbed inaugural Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year honors as voted on by Big Ten coaches.
A native of nearby Northbrook, Ill., Collins has guided the ‘Cats to 156 wins over his 10 seasons on the bench in Evanston, the third-most wins by a coach in program history. Collins collected his 150th career win in 2023 at Ohio State, becoming the fastest coach in program history to reach the mark. He coached the 2016-17 team to a school-record 24 wins and earned the school’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament. Both times Northwestern has reached the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2023, Collins has coached the team to first round victories in each season, defeating Vanderbilt 68-66 in 2017 and Boise State 75-67 in 2023. In the classroom, Northwestern has recorded three consecutive perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores of 1000.
Since being hired as the University’s 24th head men’s basketball coach on March 7, 2013, Collins has overseen three 20-win seasons, the most by any head coach in program history. He oversaw Bryant McIntosh total a school-record 700 career assists from 2015-18 and kept him in Evanston by adding him to his on-court coaching staff ahead of the 2022-23 season. In addition to Audige and Buie in 2022-23, Collins has overseen All-Big Ten recognition to McIntosh, Drew Crawford and Scottie Lindsey.
Collins is the fourth-longest tenured active coach in the Big Ten.
Collins extended through 2028 at Northwestern
