Ronald "Chin" Coleman is an American basketball coach who is currently an associate head coach at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Playing career

A native of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Coleman graduated from South Shore High School and played high school basketball team during his time there. After graduating from high school in 1992, Coleman spent his freshman year of college at

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, and appeared in 25 games for the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

. Coleman transferred after his freshman year to

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, and sat out during the 1993–94 season due to NCAA transfer rules. As starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

for the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, Coleman led his team in scoring three straight seasons and was named first team All Sun Belt Conference in each of those seasons. After graduating from Lamar University with a bachelor's degree in applied arts and sciences, Coleman played professional basketball over the course of seven years appearing in training camp with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

and in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Coaching career

In 2005, Coleman returned to the United States and began his career in coaching with Chicago-based AAU basketball Mac Irvin Fire. Coleman served as head coach for the program until 2011 and led his team to top-three overall finishes at the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

in 2009 and 2010. During this time, Coleman also served in coaching roles at two schools in the

Chicago Public League The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Admi ...

Coleman was head coach for Benjamin E. Mays Academy for one season, leading his team to a perfect 35–0 record and the District 299 City Championship. From 2007–2011 he served as the associate head coach for

Whitney Young Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. Trained as a social worker, he spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urba ...

, and helped guide them to a Class 4A state title in 2009. In 2011 Coleman made the transition to college coaching after accepting an assistant coach position on

Tim Miles Timothy Sean Miles (born August 20, 1966) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the San Jose State Spartans men's basketball team. Miles previously served as the head coach of North Dakota State University, Colo ...

staff at

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

. The following season, Coleman followed Miles to

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

to serve as the director of player development, but left prior to the start of the 2012–13 season to accept an assistant coach position on

Geno Ford Gene A. "Geno" Ford (born October 11, 1974) is an American college basketball coach and former college and professional basketball player. He is currently the men's head coach for the Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball, Stony Brook Seawolves, ...

's staff at

Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...

. After three seasons at Bradley, Coleman moved back to Chicago to accept an assistant coach position under

Steve McClain Steven James McClain (born August 15, 1962) is an assistant basketball coach at Tennessee. He was most recently head coach at the University of Illinois Chicago. Prior to UIC, he had spent five seasons on the staff of Tom Crean at Indiana Hoosie ...

at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. In 2017, Coleman was then hired on to

Brad Underwood Bradley Cole Underwood (born December 14, 1963) is the current head coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. Previously, he served as head coach at Oklahoma State Cowgirls basketball, Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin Lumber ...

's staff as an assistant coach at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Four years later he left the school in 2021 to coach at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

as an assistant coach under head coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

. Coleman followed Calipari to Arkansas, where he was given the position of Associate Head Coach.

References

External links