Bruiser Flint facts for kids
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| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Assistant coach |
| Team | Arkansas |
| Conference | SEC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | July 23, 1965 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1983–1987 | Saint Joseph's |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1987–1989 | Coppin State (assistant) |
| 1989–1996 | UMass (assistant) |
| 1996–2001 | UMass |
| 2001–2016 | Drexel |
| 2017–2020 | Indiana (assistant) |
| 2020–2024 | Kentucky (assistant) |
| 2024–present | Arkansas (assistant) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 331–289 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| CAA regular season (2012) | |
| Awards | |
| 4× CAA Coach of the Year (2002, 2004, 2009, 2012) 4× NABC District Coach of the Year (1998, 2007, 2009, 2012) |
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James "Bruiser" Flint (born July 23, 1965) is a well-known American college basketball coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the Arkansas team. Before this, he was the main coach for the Drexel Dragons for many years.
Bruiser Flint's College Days as a Player
Bruiser Flint graduated from Saint Joseph's University in 1987. While he was a student there, he played on the school's basketball team. He was so good that in his final year, he was chosen for the all-Atlantic 10 team. This means he was one of the best players in that college sports conference! Because of his great playing, he was added to St. Joe's athletic hall of fame in 1988.
Starting His Coaching Journey
In 1987, right after finishing his own playing career, Bruiser Flint became an assistant coach at Coppin State University. Two years later, he joined John Calipari as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).
When Coach Calipari left UMass to coach in the NBA in 1996, Bruiser Flint was chosen to take his place as the head coach. He was the 17th head coach for the UMass Minutemen basketball team. During his time as head coach at UMass, his team won 86 games and lost 72. He even won an award called the NABC District Coach of the Year in 1998. After the 2000–01 season, Flint decided to leave UMass.
Later Coaching Career Highlights
On April 5, 2001, Bruiser Flint became the new head coach at Drexel University. This was a big change for Drexel, as they also moved to a new sports league called the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) around the same time.
During his time at Drexel, Coach Flint was recognized as the CAA Coach of the Year four times (in 2002, 2004, 2009, and 2012). He also won the NABC District Coach of the Year award three more times (in 2007, 2009, and 2012).
Under Coach Flint, the Drexel team made it to the NIT five times. In 2012, his team won their first-ever CAA Regular Season Championship. This was a huge achievement! However, they lost in the finals of the conference tournament. They just barely missed out on getting into the big NCAA Tournament that year.
On March 7, 2016, after 15 seasons with the team, Coach Flint was no longer the head coach at Drexel. At that time, he had won more games than any other coach in Drexel basketball history.
