Jim Wooldridge

James Allen Wooldridge (born August 22, 1955) is an American former college basketball coach and athletics administrator. Wooldridge was head coach at Central Missouri State, Texas State, Louisiana Tech, Kansas State, and UC Riverside. After his coaching career, Wooldridge served as athletic director at UC Riverside and Riverside City College.

Early life and education Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Wooldridge played on Putnam City High School's class 4A state basketball championship team in 1972. Playing at guard for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs under head coach Emmett Hendricks from 1974 to 1977, Wooldridge was part of the Louisiana Tech team that won the 1976 Southland Conference regular season title. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Louisiana Tech University in 1977 and master's degree in education from East Central University in 1979.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1977–1985) Wooldridge began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Louisiana Tech in 1977–78 under new head coach J.D. Barnett. His first full time coaching job was at East Central, an NCAA Division II school where he was an assistant coach from 1978 to 1982. The 1989–90 team went 27–6 for the second most wins in program history. As a result of winning the Southland Tournament, Southwest Texas State qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.

Kansas State's 59–55 win at rival Kansas on January 14, 2006, was the only win in the Sunflower Showdown rivalry series during the Wooldridge era and Kansas State's most recent win at Allen Fieldhouse as of 2024.

UC Riverside (2007–2013) From 2007 to 2013, Wooldridge was head coach at UC Riverside, where he went 70–112. In July 2015, Wooldridge was named interim athletic director at Riverside City College. In the summer of 2016, Wooldridge was elevated to the job long term. On March 30, 2020, Wooldridge announced that he would retire in July.

Head coaching record