James Kane - Men's Basketball Coach - Iowa State University Athletics

James Kane

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
kanej@iastate.edu
Phone:
4-1489

James Kane is in his third season as an assistant coach at Iowa State. Kane also spent four seasons on Steve Prohm's staff at Murray State.

In 2019-20, a pair of Cyclones were named All-Big 12 in Tyrese Haliburton (second team) and Rasir Bolton (honorable mention). Additionally, five Cyclones took home Academic All-Big 12 honors, the second most of any conference school. Haliburton was a Cousy Award finalist prior to suffering a season-ending wrist injury in early February.

In Kane's first season in Ames, Iowa State went 23-12 overall and won the Big 12 Tournament. The Cyclones, who boasted a top-10 offense nationally in his initial season on staff, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and had four players recognized by the Big 12 Conference. ISU also won six games against Associated Press top-25 teams.

Marial Shayok was an All-American, an All-Big 12 First-Team selection and a finalist for the Julius Erving Award, while Nick Weiler-Babb, Talen Horton-Tucker and Lindell Wigginton were All-Big 12 honorable mention picks. Michael Jacobson was an Academic All-American and Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year while playing a major role in the Cyclones' successful season.

Prior to spending the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach at Dayton, Kane played a major role in Murray State’s success from 2011-17. Together, Prohm and Kane, along with current ISU assistant William Small, led the Racers to a 104-29 record from 2011-15. Murray State advanced to the postseason three times, including the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

Kane spent six seasons at Murray State establishing himself as an excellent recruiter. He signed 11 recruits during his time there, nine of which went on to become starters.

Among his recruits, Ja Morant earned All-OVC First-Team honors in 2017-18 after a strong freshman season at Murray State. Terrell Miller Jr., Jeffery Moss and Tevin Brown, all Kane recruits, also earned All-OVC First-Team honors.

Morant was drafted second overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies after a standout sophomore season that saw him earn All-America honors and win the Bob Cousy Award at Murray State.

Kane also landed a pair of highly-touted transfers, TJ Sapp (Clemson) and Damarcus Croaker (Texas), for the Racers. Sapp earned OVC All-Tournament Team honors in 2014-15.

At Dayton, Kane successfully recruited Jalen Crutcher, who was named to the Atlantic-10 All-Rookie Team in 2017-18 and the Atlantic-10 First Team in 2019-20.

Kane has mentored a number of NBA players during his time as a collegiate coach. The list includes Shayok, Horton-Tucker, Morant, Eric Maynor, Larry Sanders, JaMychal Green, Isaiah Canaan, Cameron Payne and Kostas Antetokounmpo.

The Oakland Park, Florida native also has a reputation as being outstanding in the technology area, having been a video coordinator at Alabama (2009-11) and VCU (2007-2009).

At VCU, Kane was part of a program that won back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association championships in 2007-08 and 2008-09. He was a graduate assistant for the Rams when they upset Duke to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to moving into college basketball, Kane spent the 2005-06 season interning for the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats in basketball operations and scout analysis.

Kane graduated from the University of Florida in 2005 as a merit scholar with a degree in sport management and a minor in business administration. In 2006, he earned a master’s degree in sport management from VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership. He attended the Top Connect Assistant Coaches Conference in 2019 and 2020.

A Colombian-American, Kane is a member of the Latino Association of Basketball Coaches.