Brian "Penny" Collins is an American college basketball coach, and current head coach of the

Tennessee State Tigers basketball The Tennessee State Tigers basketball team represents Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The school's team currently competes in the NCAA Division I's Ohio Valley Conference. They play their home games at the ...

team.

Playing career

A Nashville native, Collins was a four-year starter at hometown Belmont under

Rick Byrd Richard F. Byrd (born April 30, 1953) is a retired American college basketball coach who served as the head coach of the Belmont Bruins men's basketball team from 1986-2019. On February 16, 2017, with the Bruins win over Eastern Kentucky, Byrd ...

, and was the captain of the Bruins first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division I level in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. He scored 1,199 points in his career, and left the school as the all-time leader in assists and steals at the Division I level. After graduation, Collins played professional basketball between 2006 and 2007 with the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

of the

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

and

Kouvot Kouvot is a Finnish professional basketball team based in Kouvola. Founded in 1964, the team plays in the Korisliiga and has won the national championship four times: in 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2016. The team plays at the Mansikka-ahon urheiluhalli ...

in Finland.

Coaching career

In 2007, Collins began his coaching career serving as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations at Tennessee State until 2009, when he accepted an assistant coaching position at NAIA institution

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. Collins landed his first head coaching job, taking the reins of Columbia State where he took over a team that went 10–17 in his first year, but compiled a 54–11 overall record in his final two seasons and led the team to two-straight NCJAA national tournament appearances. After the 2015 season, Collins joined the staff at ETSU for two seasons before spending one season at Illinois St. as an assistant coach. On March 26, 2018, Collins was named the 21st head coach in Tennessee State history, replacing

Dana Ford Dana Ford (born June 9, 1984) is an American college basketball coach who is an assistant coach at SMU. He was formerly the head coach at Missouri State University from March 21, 2018 until he was relieved of his duties on March 10, 2024. Prior ...

, who accepted the head coaching position at Missouri State.

Head coaching record

NJCAA

NCAA DI

References

Living people 1984 births American men's basketball coaches American expatriate basketball people in Finland Bakersfield Jam players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Belmont Bruins men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball coaches Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball coaches Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Tennessee State Tigers basketball coaches American men's basketball players {{US-basketball-coach-stub