Old Dominion University women’s basketball coach Karen Barefoot didn’t have to look very far when filling a vacancy on her coaching staff. In fact, she only looked down the hallway.
Barefoot announced today that former men’s basketball assistant Jim Corrigan, a 19-year veteran of the ODU men’s basketball staff, has been named an assistant women’s basketball coach at Old Dominion University, replacing Amaka Agugua who joined the Michigan State staff last month.
“I was fortunate to have worked with Jim when I was an assistant coach here and now as head coach,” says Barefoot. “I must have talked X’s and 0’s with him over 100 times in our offices and there is no doubt he has one of the best basketball minds in the game, as well as being a great teacher of the game.
“Jim is hard working, has incredible loyalty for Old Dominion and is well known on the recruiting circuit. Adding Jim to our staff is a great coup for our program and I can’t wait to get started,” adds Barefoot.
Corrigan came to ODU in 1994 as a member of former head coach Jeff Capel’s staff. When Blaine Taylor was hired in 2000, he recognized Corrigan’s strengths and retained him as a member of his staff. During Corrigan’s tenure, the Monarchs won five CAA Championships, advanced to six NCAA tournaments and competed in eight straight national post seasons from 2005-12. He served as the interim head men’s coach this past season from Feb. 5 through March 3, posting a 3-5 record that included an upset of the CAA’s regular season champion Northeastern in Boston, 81-74, as well as a win over Drexel in Philadelphia, 78-66.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to be a part of such a storied and successful program that is once again on the rise to national prominence. Coach Barefoot has brought energy, vision, and belief to the players and fans of this tremendous program, and it is contagious and irrepressible! I am looking forward to getting back to work on the court, and will do so with a renewed vigor and enthusiasm,” says Corrigan.
“It’s is an honor to be a part of Lady Monarch tradition and the exciting future this program has under Coach Barefoot’s leadership,” he adds.
In 2012, Bleacher Report named Corrigan as one of the nation’s top 15 assistant coaches. Collegeinsider.com rated Corrigan as one of the five top Mid-Major Assistant Coaches in the nation and Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman called Corrigan the top assistant in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Corrigan was involved in every aspect of the Monarch program including recruiting, scouting, scheduling, player development, and academic monitoring of the team members. In addition to the five CAA titles, ODU teams made six trips to the NCAA Tournament, as well as two NIT tournament appearances, and a CBI post-season appearance. The Monarchs captured the inaugural College Basketball Insider.com title in 2009, and the 2006 Monarchs reached the NIT semi-finals with a trip to Madison Square Garden. During the eight-year stretch from 2004-05 to 2011-12, ODU won more games than (195) any Virginia Division I program for an average of 24.3 wins per year.
Under Corrigan’s leadership 19 Monarchs were named All-Conference; two were Rookies of the Year, three players of the year, three defensive players of the year and ten to the CAA All-Defensive squad. Ten freshmen were named to the CAA All-Rookie team. Corrigan also put together a schedule that allowed Old Dominion to receive an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament for the first time in 21 years.
Corrigan has an extensive international recruiting experience, with players from Australia, Lithuania, The Ivory Coast, Canada, Finland and Denmark. Four of those student athletes earned All-Conference honors and one was the CAA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP.
Jim began his coaching career at Northern High School in Durham, N.C., where he served as an assistant for two years under head coach Kevin Billerman. From there he moved to his alma mater, Bishop McGuiness High School in Winston-Salem, N.C. After one season as the junior varsity and varsity assistant, Jim was elevated to head coach.
During his four years as head coach at McGuinness, he achieved several milestones. His teams compiled a record of 90-42, and reached the North Carolina State Finals each of the last three years he was the head coach, culminating in the 1987 state championship. During that run, McGuinness twice set school records for wins in a season with 26 in 1984-85, and 27 in 1985-86. Twice his teams were invited to the prestigious Alhambra Invitational Tournament, and finished with a 77-25 record those last three seasons.
Corrigan was named Coach of the Year in the conference and on the state level in North Carolina three times. From there, Jim moved to William and Mary where he was an assistant coach from 1987-94.
In high school, Jim was named All-City and All-County as a senior at McGuinness and led the city in scoring at 26 points per game. He turned down numerous scholarships to attend Duke University where he walked on to the team and earned a scholarship under head coach Bill Foster. While at Duke, the Blue Devils won two Atlantic Coast Tournament championships and played in three NCAA tournaments, including the 1978 A Final Four.
As a senior at Duke, the Blue Devils were ranked number one in the country as well as the number one amateur team in the world. That year, Corrigan received the Ted Mann award as the non-starter who contributed the most to team morale. Duke reached the NCAA quarterfinals.
Jim recently served as president of the assistant coaches committee of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Jim has a daughter, Keenan, a graduate of Duke, and sons Cole, a sophomore at ODU and Drew. Corrigan graduated from Duke in 1980 with a degree in management science.
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