Western Michigan University Athletics

Chris Fowler joined the Western Michigan men's basketball program as an assistant coach in June of 2022, and was elevated to associate head coach in July of 2024. The 2024-25 campaign was his third with the Broncos. 

The 2024-25 season saw Western Michigan return to the MAC Tournament, making it back-to-back appearances in Cleveland for the Broncos for the first time since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Junior guard Chansey Willis Jr. paced the conference in both scoring and assists, and was named to the All-MAC Second Team, the program's first Second Team selection since Thomas Wilder in 2016. The Broncos also continued to dominate the glass, leading the league in offensive rebounding for the third straight season. Western Michigan's 13.2 offensive boards per game ranked 24th in NCAA Division I, and its overall average of 37.8 rebounds was second-best in the MAC and 54th in the country. The Brown and Gold led the league with five Academic All-MAC selections, tied for the most in program history, and set a new program record with four CSC Academic All-District honorees. 

In Fowler's second season, WMU had a pair of guards earn accolades from the MAC, with sophomore JaVaughn Hannah becoming the third player in program history to win the MAC Sixth Man of the Year award, and B. Artis White being selected All-MAC Honorable Mention. Hannah and Max Burton were Academic All-MAC honorees, and the duo also became the first Broncos to receive Academic All-District selections since 2019. Western Michigan continued to hit from long range, as it buried 253 triples, surpassing the 250 from the 2022-23 campaign as the second-highest mark in program history. WMU continued to assert itself on the glass as well, leading the MAC in offensive rebounding (12.6/game, 34th nationally), and ranking among the top-3 in the conference in total rebounding and rebounding margin. 

During his first season in Kalamazoo, Fowler aided in the development of a pair of Bronco guards who received All-MAC accolades, with senior Lamar Norman Jr. earning Honorable Mention recognition and freshman Seth Hubbard being named to the All-Freshman Team. During the season, Norman became the 45th player in WMU program history to surpass 1,000 career points. Behind Norman and Hubbard, WMU hit 250 three-pointers, which was then the second-highest, single-season total in program history. Western Michigan also led the MAC in both rebounding margin (+4.7/game, 34th nationally) and offensive rebounding (12.2/game, 27th nationally).

Fowler came to Western Michigan after spending each of the prior two seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona University. In 2021-22, NAU’s Jalen Cone was named to the All-Big Sky Third Team after averaging 18.8 points per game and posting the second-highest scoring season in NAU program history.
 
In his first season in Flagstaff, Fowler was instrumental in the continued development of Cameron Shelton, who became the first Lumberjack to earn All-Big Sky First Team and NABC All-District honors since 2015. Shelton was the sixth player in program history to earn an All-District selection, and ranked 37th in the country at 19.2 points per game. During Fowler’s tenure, Northern Arizona boasted 10 Big Sky All-Academic honorees and at the end of the 2020-21 season, received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the NABC.
 
Prior to his time at NAU, Fowler spent two seasons at Michigan State as a graduate assistant under Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo. Working alongside WMU head coach Dwayne Stephens, Fowler aided the MSU staff in the implementation of practice and game day operations, as well as with scouting reports.
 
During his two seasons in East Lansing, the Spartans went 54-16, won a pair of Big Ten regular season championships, the 2019 Big Ten Tournament and reached the 2019 Final Four. Fowler aided in the development of 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus All-American Cassius Winston and 2020 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Xavier Tillman.    
 
Fowler played collegiately at Central Michigan, where he was a four-year team captain and finished his career as the program’s career record holder in assists, free throw attempts and made free throws. While at CMU, he was a three-time All-MAC and NABC All-District selection. As a junior, he was runner-up for MAC Player of the Year and a finalist for the 2015 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major player.
 
In the classroom, Fowler was a three-time Academic All-MAC honoree and a 2016 CoSIDA All-District selection. He also was named a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete as a senior and was the recipient of CMU’s prestigious Bill Boyden Award, given annually to the Chippewa student-athlete who best exemplifies leadership, academics and community service.
 
Following his collegiate career, Fowler was a second-round pick of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the 2016 NBA D-League Draft. He went on to play overseas for the Rockhampton Rockets (Australia) and Baunach Young Pikes (Germany) from 2017-18. While with Rockhampton, he led the team with 23.6 points and 5.6 assists per game.
 
A native of Southfield, Mich., Fowler graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in Theatre & Interpretation in 2016, and received a master’s degree in Coaching & Leadership from Michigan State University in 2020.

Fowler and his wife, Alexandra, have a son, Christopher, and a daughter, Kylar.