Bio

Jim Wooldridge is in his second year as director of athletics at Riverside City College after having the interim tag removed earlier this summer.

Wooldridge came to RCC from across town -- the University of California, Riverside -- where he served for six seasons (2007-13) as the sixth head coach in the history of the Highlanders’
men’s basketball program and as UCR’s interim director of athletics for two years (2013-15).

In 25 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Wooldridge compiled an overall won-lost record of 382-349, including a 70-112 mark at UCR. The Oklahoma City, OK native earned the reputation as a skilled program builder and coach whose teams emphasize teamwork, hard-nosed defense and rebounding.

Wooldridge coached at the collegiate or professional level for 35 years, including stops as head coach at Central Missouri State, Texas State, Louisiana Tech and Kansas State and two years as an assistant coach to Tim Floyd with the Chicago Bulls.

Wooldridge spent six years at Kansas State (2000-06), leading the Wildcats to their first winning season in six years with a 17-12 record in the Big 12 Conference in 2004-05. None of his teams finished with fewer than 11 wins and his 83 wins rank sixth on Kansas State’s all-time list for victories. Wooldridge had six players earn All-Big 12 honors and he coached the 2004 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jeremiah Massey.

From 1998 through 2000, Wooldridge worked as an assistant coach under former college teammate Floyd. He was instrumental in the development of several top NBA players, including 1999-2000 Co-Rookie of the Year Elton Brand and Ron Artest, who earned all-rookie team honors in 1999-2000. He was considered the staff authority on the triangle offense, having taught it as the head coach at Louisiana Tech, after learning it from friend and triangle guru Tex Winter.

Wooldridge started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech during the 1977-78 season, then spent four years as an assistant coach at East Central State.

In 1982, he joined Lynn Nance’s staff at NCAA Division II Central Missouri State University (CMSU), where he was the program’s chief recruiter. When Nance left following the 1985 season, Wooldridge was named head coach. He led the team to 20-or-more wins four times, including a 27-6 season in which they lost to CS Bakersfield in the NCAA Finals. Wooldridge is the only coach in CMSU history to record back-to-back 25-win seasons (1989-90 and 1990-91). For his efforts, Wooldridge was inducted into the Central Missouri State U.
Athletic Hall of Fame on February 28, 2004.

He made his NCAA Division I head coaching debut at Texas State (then Southwest Texas State) in 1991-92. He turned around a program that had suffered through seven

consecutive sub-.500 seasons, getting the program above .500 in his second season. By his third year, the squad was 25-7 and earned the Bobcats’ first trip to the NCAA tournament.

From there, Wooldridge was hired at his alma mater, Louisiana Tech. He took over a program that had won just nine games the previous two years combined and guided the Bulldogs to a pair of winning seasons in his first three seasons, including a 14-13 record in his first campaign. It was a remarkable improvement considering Louisiana Tech was coming off NCAA probation and a 2-25 record the previous season (1993-94). Even more impressive was
the fact that the Bulldogs posted a .500 conference slate (9-9) in Wooldridge’s inaugural season, after going winless in Sun Belt play the year before (0-18).

Wooldridge played on Putnam City High School’s class 4A state championship team in Oklahoma City in 1972. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Louisiana Tech in 1977, then earned a master’s degree in education from East Central University in 1979.

Wooldridge and his wife, Ann, have two children, Jamie and Eric.