Jeff Dunlap returns as an assistant coach at Western Michigan for his fourth season with the program after a three-year stint from 2004-07.
Dunlap spent last season working for Big Shots, an organization that puts on exposure camps for high school basketball players across the country. Dunlap was tournament director at camps held in Georgia and Alabama.
Dunlap spent the two seasons before that in the Southeastern Conference as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations at Alabama. In his first season with the Crimson Tide, Dunlap was promoted to assistant coach midway through the season after another assistant took a leave of absence from the program. Dunlap was promoted again after head coach Mark Gottfried resigned during the 2008-09 season as Dunlap spent the majority of his time with the program coaching and recruiting. The Crimson Tide finished 17-16 during his first season and 18-14 in his second year in Tuscaloosa.
A proven and successful recruiter who has signed several all-conference and All-America caliber players, Dunlap’s contacts and experience range from coast-to-coast. Dunlap has coached and recruited in the SEC, MAC, Horizon and Big West in his Division I tenure, in addition to successful stints in Division II and junior college.
During his first stint with the Brown & Gold, Dunlap helped the Broncos finish 20-13 and reach the second round of the 2005 Postseason NIT in his first season. The Broncos won the MAC West championship in 2004-05 and finished second in both 2005-06 and 2006-07. Dunlap focused his on-court efforts on the Bronco perimeter players as Ben Reed was named First Team All-MAC in 2005, David Kool was MAC Freshman of the Year in 2007 and Brian Snider was All-MAC honorable mention in 2006.
A 25-year veteran of the coaching ranks, Dunlap was an assistant at
the University of Georgia for four seasons prior to his second stop at
Loyola-Chicago. While
with the Bulldogs, the program claimed the SEC East
title in 2002 on the way to finishing 22-10 and ranked No. 23 in the
country in the final AP poll. Georgia advanced to back-to-back NCAA
Tournaments in 2001 and 2002 with Dunlap on staff.
Hawkins and Dunlap first met at the age of 17 while both were working summer camps hosted by legendary former UCLA coach John Wooden. The pair remained in contact throughout the years and Hawkins eventually hired Dunlap at Quincy University prior to the 1990-91 campaign. While at QU, he helped guide the team to three NCAA Division II Tournament appearances from 1991-94 as the recruiting coordinator and an assistant coach. Those squads featured a trio of All-America selections, recruited to campus by Dunlap and Hawkins.
In addition to stints at Cal State-Fullerton, Georgia and College of the Canyons, Dunlap helped Loyola (1998-99) to its best finish in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in nearly 15 years. Serving as the associate men’s head coach, he helped direct College of the Canyons to back-to-back conference championships. The women’s squad, of which he was the head coach, earned a spot in the state’s elite eight tournament.
Prior to Loyola, he was the first assistant at Fullerton College for one year, helping the team to a 25-7 record.
Dunlap is also the founder and director of the California-based Complete Player Academy, which he runs with former UCLA teammate Jack Haley, who is now with FOX Sports. Throughout his career, Dunlap has gained additional coaching experience by participating in several basketball camps including the Superstar Invitational, John Wooden and Pat Riley camps.
Dunlap earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA in 1986 and a master’s in education from Azusa Pacific University in 1998. As a student-athlete at UCLA, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Senior Award in 1986. Dunlap started his collegiate career at Los Angeles Pierce Community College and then was a three-year letterman for the Bruins from 1984-86 and a member of the 1985 NIT Championship team, playing under Larry Farmer and Walt Hazzard.
Dunlap married the former DeeDee Hinson, a basketball player at Azusa Pacific, in 1999. The couple’s first child, Brady Douglas, was born in September 2003 and their daughter, Brooklin, was born in May 2007.
