Northwestern men’s basketball coach Chris Collins is smiling ear-to-ear after agreeing to a contract extension that will keep him in Evanston for several more years.
Collins, the only men’s coach in school history to lead his team to the NCAA Basketball Tournament, is 43 wins shy of setting the program record for victories, and is coming off a third straight winning season with the Wildcats.
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WATCH HEREThe Northbrook-native said there was only one option for his career when it came time to decide on his future.
“It’s always about enjoying where you’re at, are you having fun, are you happy, do you still believe in the place, and that you can do the things you want to do,” he told NBC Chicago’s Mike Berman. “As I evaluated myself and my career 12 years in, it was always coming back to Northwestern (for me).”
Collins wasn’t even 40 years old when he was hired as the school’s head coach in 2013. Since then, he has put up five winning seasons and reached three men’s basketball tournaments, and a few gray hairs, as he likes to joke.
“It’s crazy to think about it. Everyone jokes about my press conference, how dark my hair used to be,” he said.
The new deal will keep him in Evanston into his mid-50s, and he said that finding a place he could really call home was critical when evaluating his career options.
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“When I was an assistant coach, part of me was saying ‘could I ever find a place for me that could become my place?’ And could become a place when you’re done, whenever that is, people kinda remember what you’ve done, and you have a legacy and kinda left your mark there in a big way,” he said. “That’s one of the big reasons why I’ve always been drawn to being here at Northwestern.”
Collins said that his achievements at the school have made him proud, but there are still new heights he wants the program to ascend to.
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SIGN UP “Hopefully we can get to a point where a championship is in reach at some point,” he said. ‘I’d love to win a championship. We haven’t been able to do that, and I’m always going to strive for that as long as I’m sitting in this chair.”
