Jim Les

Jim Les (born August 18, 1963)

Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: UC Davis Aggies
Current conference: Big West Conference
Bradley record: 154-140 (.524)
UC Davis record: 195-199 (.495)
Overall record: 349-339 (.507)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  2  (2006, 2017)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  1  (2006)
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  0
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  3  (2007, 2015, 2018)
• CBI Championships:  0  (Runner-up in 2008)
• CBI Appearances:  1  (2008)
• CIT Championships:  0  (Runner-up in 2009)
• CIT Appearances:  1  (2009)
• Big West Regular Season Champion:  2  (2015, 2018) 
• Big West Tournament Champion:  1  (2017)

Awards:

• Big West Coach of the Year:  2  (2015, 2018)
• Missouri Valley Player of the Year:  1  (1986)
• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award:  1  (1986)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2011-present	UC Davis
2002-2011	Bradley
1999-2001	Sacramento Monarchs (asst)
1994	Omaha Racers (asst)

Jim Les Facts

• James Allen Les
• Born August 18, 1963
• Hometown: Niles, Illinois
• Alma Mater: Bradley University (BA, 1986)
• Played at Notre Dame College Prep (IL) and, after one year at Cleveland State, played three seasons for Dick Versace at Bradley
  • Standing just 5’11” tall, Les won the 1986 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
  • Named Missouri Valley Player of the Year as a senior in 1986
• Drafted in the 3rd round (70th overall) in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Atlantic Hawks
  • Spent eight seasons playing professionally in the NBA (Jazz, Clippers, Kings and Hawks), WBL, CBA and in Spain
  • Head coaches Les played for include Jerry Sloan, Dick Motta and Lenny Wilkens
• Started coaching in 1999 with the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs, serving as an assistant for three years
• Became the head coach at his alma mater, Bradley, in 2002, a position he would hold until 2011
  • As a 13-seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Les led the Braves to upsets of 4-seed Kansas and 5-seed Pittsburgh to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in program history (first since 1956)
  • Went to the NIT in 2007 and had runner-up finishes in the 2008 CBI and 2009 CIT
• Hired in 2011 as the new head coach at UC Davis, inheriting a team that had gone 10-20 (4-12) the year before
  • By year four, Les’ Aggies won 25 games and the Big West regular season title, earning a berth in the 2015 NIT
  • Won the Big West Tournament in 2017, earning the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament berth

Jim Les Coaching Tree

• Gus Argenal (Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State East Bay)
• Mark Darnall (Jessup)
• Lennox Forrester (SIU Edwardsville)
• Howard Moore (UIC)