James Samuel Vincent (born May 18, 1963) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and coach. He is the current coach of MBB of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

(BAL). Vincent was

Mr. Basketball of Michigan Each year the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best Secondary education, high school senior boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Michigan. The award is named in honor of the late Hal Schram, a sports wri ...

in 1981, while playing with

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, and turned professional after four years of college basketball. He became an

NBA champion The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Easter ...

in 1986 with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. Vincent began a coaching career in Europe after his retirement.

Playing career

Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the first year the award was given. He attended Lansing's Eastern High School, where he scored 61 points in one game as a senior, breaking the previous city scoring record of 54 set by

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

at Everett High School. A 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

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 ...

, Vincent followed in the footsteps of his older brother Jay Vincent, attending

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and earning ''

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All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1985. After graduating from college, he was selected by the

with the twentieth pick of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985–86 NBA season, 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "NBA draft lottery, lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the ...

. He played two seasons for the Celtics, winning an

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

ring as a reserve in 1986, before joining the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

, who promptly traded him to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

for

Sedale Threatt Sedale Eugene Threatt ( ; born September 10, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Threatt played college basketball at the West Virginia Institute of T ...

. After one-and-a-half solid seasons with the Bulls, he was selected by the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

in the 1989 NBA

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

, and he finished his NBA career with the Magic in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. His 1990–1991 NBA Hoops basketball card has gained fame due to having

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

in view wearing a #12 jersey, instead of his normal #23. Vincent scored 3,106 points and tallied 1,543 assists during his seven-year tenure in the league. Shortly after retiring, Vincent worked at Disney's Wide World of Sports in

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

. During the late 1990s, he coached basketball in South Africa, and he has also coached in Greece, Netherlands,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and the NBA Developmental League; he went to the league finals in the NBADL twice, winning once. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, he led the Nigerian women's basketball team to a 68–64 victory over South Korea, which was the first ever victory by an African nation in an Olympic women's basketball contest.

Coaching career

He was coach of the

Fort Worth Flyers The Fort Worth Flyers were a minor league basketball team in the NBA Development League (D-League) based in Fort Worth, Texas. They began play in the 2005–06 season and were shut down for the 2007–08 season. Franchise history In 2005, Sout ...

in the 2005–06 season. Shortly after coaching the Nigeria men's team to the second round of the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

(including a shocking upset of traditional power

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

), he was hired as an assistant coach by the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. On May 25, 2007, Vincent was introduced as the new head coach of the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. On April 26, 2008, Vincent was relieved of his head coaching duties. Later that year, Vincent was named the head coach of the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League.

Nigerian national basketball team

Vincent assumed coaching the D'Tigress at the

. He led the team to a 68–64 victory over

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, the victory was the first victory by an African side in the women's basketball event in the Olympics. In 2005, Sam Vincent led the Nigerian women's basketball team to their second tournament victory in the FIBA African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket). Vincent returned as the team's head coach in 2017. He led the team to a 100 per cent performance in the 2017 FIBA African women's basketball tournament

Afrobasket The AfroBasket (alternatively known as the FIBA Africa Championship, FIBA African Championship, or FIBA AfroBasket) is the men's basketball continental championship contested by the senior national teams of Africa Africa is the world's s ...

in Bamako, Mali. The team clinched their third Afrobasket title by defeating Senegal by 65–48 points in the final and consequently qualifying for the FIBA women's basketball World cup in Spain. Vincent had his appointment as head coach of the Nigeria Women's Basketball Team terminated by the Nigeria Basketball Federation on Thursday, August 2 while the team was preparing for the

2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup The 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the 18th edition of FIBA's premier international tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from 22 to 30 September 2018. This was the first edition to ...

. Vincent was appointed as head coach of the Bahrain national basketball team, replacing Serbian coach Darko Ruso. This was after having coached the Riffa,

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

and Al-Ahli Manama clubs. In September 2022, Vincent was named the first head coach of the men's team at Beacon College, a liberal arts school in Central Florida. On February 4, 2025, Vincent was announced as the new head coach of South African club MBB of the

(BAL). Former

Magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

player

Pat Burke Patrick John Burke (born December 14, 1973) is an Irish former professional basketball player who is currently the men's basketball head coach for Beacon College. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for three seasons between ...

took over the position as head men's basketball coach and director of athletics at Beacon in March 2025. MBB was eliminated in the group phase of the BAL, following a 2–4 record. On June 4, Vincent joined Rwandan team APR as a defensive coach ahead of the 2025 BAL playoffs, while also expressing his intention to stay on as MBB's head coach.

Personal

Vincent has kids, who have the South African nationality.

Head coaching record

NBA

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College

References

External links

NBA.com coach profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Sam 1963 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American basketball coaches All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in South Africa American expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Anaheim Arsenal coaches Aris B.C. players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Lansing, Michigan Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Charlotte Bobcats head coaches Chicago Bulls players Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Fort Worth Flyers coaches Gymnastikos S. Larissas B.C. coaches McDonald's High School All-Americans Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Mobile Revelers coaches Orlando Magic expansion draft picks Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Seattle SuperSonics players Basketball Africa League coaches