| Jimmy Patsos | |
| Birth Date: | 1 October 1966 |
| Birth Place: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1986–1989 |
| Player Team1: | Catholic |
| Coach Years1: | 1989–1991 |
| Coach Team1: | Archbishop Carroll HS (assistant) |
| Coach Years2: | 1991–2004 |
| Coach Team2: | Maryland (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 2004–2013 |
| Coach Team3: | Loyola (MD) |
| Coach Years4: | 2013–2018 |
| Coach Team4: | Siena |
| Overall Record: | 222–227 |
| Championships: | CBI (2014) MAAC tournament (2012) |
| Awards: | MAAC Coach of the Year (2012) Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award (2012) |
James John Patsos (born October 1, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former college basketball coach. He served as an assistant coach, then head coach at Loyola (MD) and Siena, and is now a commentator and broadcaster.[1]
He currently serves as the color commentator for Towson and George Washington men's basketball games.[2] [3]
Patsos earned his B.A. from Catholic University in 1989. There, he played basketball under Jack Bruen, who later coached Colgate University to a couple of NCAA tournament appearances in the 1990s.
Patsos served on the coaching staff of Gary Williams at the University of Maryland for 13 years, beginning as a volunteer assistant in 1991. Patsos took over at Loyola after they suffered a 1–27 season under former coach Scott Hicks.
Patsos was the 20th head coach of Loyola men's basketball. In his first season as coach in 2004, he guided them to a 6–22 record. In his second season, they reached 15–13, the first time they had a winning record since the 1993–94 season, the year they reached the NCAA Tournament under Skip Prosser.
On Dec. 22, 2009 a Patsos led Loyola team recorded the greatest regular season win in program history by defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 72–67. The Hounds led by as many as 22, before the Hoosiers rallied to take a late lead. Senior guard Brett Harvey led the Hounds back scoring 9 points in the final 3 minutes.[4]
Patsos has guided the Greyhounds to multiple 3rd place MAAC finishes, finishing with 18 wins in 2006–07 and a tied a school record with 19 wins in 2007–08.
Patsos has sought local talent in his coaching staff. Former players from Maryland, Terrell Stokes and Matt Kovarik are former assistants at Loyola.[5]
A former member of his staff at Loyola was current Loyola Head Coach G.G. Smith, the son of college basketball coach Tubby Smith
Patsos received a contract extension from Loyola on July 9, 2008. Per Loyola policies, details of the contract were not released.[6]
On November 25, 2008, Patsos and the Greyhounds double-teamed Davidson All-American and future NBA All-Star Stephen Curry for the entire game, leaving his other three players to face the 24th ranked Wildcats in a four on three game. Davidson won by 30, while Curry stood in the corner during most possessions. Commenting afterwards, Patsos said: "We had to play against an NBA player tonight. Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I'm a history major. They're going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30? I know the fans are mad at me, but I had to roll the dice as far as a coach goes. I'm not some rookie coach," said Patsos, a former longtime assistant at Maryland. "I won a national title as a top assistant coach to Gary Williams. For 13 years I spent on Tobacco Road. I coached a couple of No. 1 picks in the draft. And we scored 48 points. That's the problem that Loyola basketball had today." (implying that his team's offense cost them the game, not their defense).[7]
After nine seasons at Loyola, Patsos agreed to replace Mitch Buonaguro in a similar capacity at Siena on April 2, 2013.[8]
On November 19, 2013 Patsos recorded his first win at Siena in a 72–70 triumph over St. Bonaventure.
In his first season at the helm, Patsos guided the Saints to their first winning season since 2010 as the program capped off a 20-18 year which ended in a CBI championship. The title was the program's second ever national postseason championship (1950 National Catholic Invitational). After starting the season 7-12, Siena finished the regular season strongly with an 11-9 conference record and fifth-place finish before losing in the MAAC Quarterfinals to Canisius 71-65.
The Saints were selected to play in College Basketball Invitational. Siena defeated Stony Brook 66-55 in the first round. The Saints then won a thriller beating Penn State from the Big Ten Conference 54-52 in the Quarterfinals. After a 61-49 win over Illinois State in the semifinals; Siena defeated Fresno State in the best-of-three CBI championship series. Siena won game one on the road 61-57 after rallying from 12 down in the second half. The Bulldogs would tie the series before the Saints would clinch the title with an 81-68 victory in game three. Siena finished the season winning nine of their final 11 games.
On April 13, 2018 Patsos resigned from Siena after 5 years with a 77-92 career record after the college opened an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior in the program.[9]
Since Siena, Patsos has worked as a broadcaster and commentator, discussing Washington Mystics and Washington Wizards NBA games,[1] and as a color commentator for Towson and George Washington.[2] [3]
On November 19, 2008 Jimmy Patsos became one of the only coaches ever to coach from the stands during his team's game in an attempt to avoid being ejected by the referees.[10]
On November 25, 2008 Patsos was roundly criticized for appearing to prefer holding Davidson player Stephen Curry scoreless over winning the basketball game by double-teaming Curry while he stood in the corner while Davidson played 4 on 3 against the remaining players.[11] In his post-game press-conference, Patsos justified his strategy by stating that "We had to play against an NBA player tonight. Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I’m a history major. They’re going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?"
On January 17, 2017 after a brawl in a game vs Rider, the Broncs and their head coach decided not to shake hands with Patsos and his team. In response Patsos walked down the line where he would've shaken the Rider team and staffs and, decided to air shake their hands.[12] In response, Patsos received a reprimand from the NCAA, along with the Rider Basketball Coach, Kevin Bagget. Siena won the league game 78-68.