Sport(s) Men's basketball Record 33–31 (.516) 1999–2000 Charleston (asst.) | Title Head coach Spouse Lisa Brannen | |
Born January 18, 1974 (age 43)Alexandria, Kentucky ( 1974-01-18 ) 2000–2003 Eastern Kentucky (asst.) Children Jaylee Brannen, Katelyn Brannen People also search for Dave Bezold, Jalen Billups, Tyler White Teams coached Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball (Head coach, since 2015) | ||
John Brannen (born January 18, 1974) is an American basketball coach and the current men's basketball coach of the Northern Kentucky University Norse. Brannen previously spent nine seasons as an assistant coach to Anthony Grant at both VCU and Alabama. For the Tide's two games in the 2015 National Invitation Tournament, Brannen served as interim head coach. Brannen is a Kentucky-native and was named the head coach of NKU, the fifth in program history, on April 7, 2015.
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Coaching career
Brannen held assistant coaching positions at Charleston, Eastern Kentucky and St. Bonaventure before being hired by former Marshall assistant Anthony Grant, who had just been named head coach at VCU. Brannen spent three seasons at VCU before following Grant to Alabama, where he was an assistant for six seasons (the last two as associate head coach). When Grant was fired following the Tide's 2015 SEC Tournament loss, Brannen was named interim head coach for the team's NIT appearance. The Tide were knocked out of the tournament by Miami in the second round following a first round home win over Illinois.
In 2017, Brannen led the Norse to the Horizon League championship and the NCAA tournament in the the school's first season of full Division I eligibility.
Playing career
Brannen started his collegiate career at Morehead State before transferring to Marshall for his final two seasons. As a senior, Brannen led the Southern Conference in scoring and was named the league tournament MVP. Brannen played two seasons of professional basketball in Belgium's First Division before returning to the States to begin his coaching career.
Personal life
Brannen is married to the former Lisa Elswick, with whom he has twin daughters. He is originally from Alexandria, Kentucky. He received his bachelor's degree in business management from Marshall University in 1997 and was a Rhodes Scholar finalist as a college senior.