ST. LOUIS – Jim Platt, who has a combined 32 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience as a head or assistant coach, has been named an assistant coach for Saint Louis men’s basketball.
Among Platt’s experience are nine years as a head coach. He spent five years at the helm at Charleston Southern (2000-05) and four years at Arkansas-Little Rock (1990-94). Platt was an assistant coach for five seasons at Army (2005-10), four of which were under SLU interim head coach Jim Crews. Most recently, Platt was director of basketball operations at Liberty this past season, and he served as assistant coach at Bradley in 2010-11.
“I’m thankful to have the opportunity to join coach Crews, the coaching staff and the great student-athletes here at SLU,” Platt said. “Jim has been a great mentor for me during my career. I believe that under Jim’s leadership, experience and value system, the basketball program is going to be represented in a manner that emulates the values of Saint Louis University and Billiken athletics.
“SLU represents the very best in collegiate athletics,” Platt said. “It’s a school with tremendous academics and one that is competing at the highest level of college basketball. It’s the best combination to represent as a college coach.”
“Jim has a great passion for coaching and the student-athletes,” Crews said. “He is a strong recruiter and is excellent at coaching the fundamentals and the details of the game. I’ve known Jim for more than 30 years and we were on staff together at West Point, so that familiarity helps.”
The 2001 Big South Conference Coach of the Year, Platt had a 55-81 record in five seasons at Charleston Southern. The Buccaneers were a win away from capturing the Big South tournament title in 2005 before falling in the championship game.
Prior to his stint at Charleston Southern, Platt spent three years as an assistant at Florida State (1997-00), helping the Seminoles to the NCAA Tournament in 1998. He also was an assistant at Tulsa for two years (1995-97), with both seasons culminating in an NCAA Tournament appearance for the Golden Hurricane.
Platt’s first job as a collegiate head coach came at Arkansas-Little Rock, where he went 56-59 in four seasons (1990-94). He was an assistant at DePaul for six seasons (1984-90), going to the postseason every year including the Sweet Sixteen during the 1985-86 and 1986-87 campaigns. Platt began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Illinois State from 1978-84. He helped the Redbirds to the NCAA Tournament in his final two seasons before moving on to DePaul.
A 1973 graduate of Concordia (Ill.) University, Platt is a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame following standout playing careers on the basketball and baseball teams.
