TicketsJohn Brannen made an immediate impression in Clifton in 2019-20, becoming the first Cincinnati head coach since 1966 to win a conference regular-season championship in his first season on the job, guiding the Bearcats to a share of the American Athletic Conference title.
The achievement seems to be a pattern for Brannen, who also won regular-season crowns his last two seasons across the Ohio River at Northern Kentucky (2018, 2019) before coming to Cincinnati.
The feat also puts Brannen in rare company nationally as one of only six active coaches to have won a conference regular-season crown in each of the past three seasons along with Gonzaga’s Mark Few (eight consecutive West Coast Conference titles), Vermont’s John Becker (four American East Conference titles), New Mexico State’s Chris Jans (three Western Athletic Conference titles), Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (three Big Ten Conference titles), and Murray State’s Matt McMahon (three Ohio Valley Conference titles).
Brannen also became the fifth UC coach in history to win a regular-season conference title in his first year leading the program, joining Frank Rice (1929 - Buckeye Athletic Association), John Wiethe (1947 - Mid-American Conference), Ed Jucker (1961 - Missouri Valley) and Tay Baker (1966 - Missouri Valley Conference).
Brannen, who was named UC’s 27th head coach in program history on Apr. 14, 2019, had served as NKU’s head coach since the 2015-2016 season, taking the Norse to unprecedented success as the school’s athletics department underwent reclassification. Since earning active Division I status eligibility prior to the start of the 2016-17 season, the Norse men’s basketball program has compiled a 72-30 overall record, making three consecutive postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament [2017, 2019], NIT [2018]), winning back-to-back Horizon League regular-season championships (2018, 2019) and claiming a pair of conference tournament titles (2017, 2019). No other school in the nation has enjoyed NKU’s amount of success in its first three years with active status at the Division I level.
Brannen, whose coaching career spans 20 seasons, owns a 102-62 career record as head coach, including a 20-10 mark at Cincinnati. He registered an 81-51 ledger in four seasons at NKU and a 1-1 mark as Alabama’s interim head coach at the end of the 2014-15 campaign.
The 2017 Horizon League Coach of the Year, Brannen led the Norse to a 24-11 record in 2016-17, the Horizon League Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the school’s first season of active status eligibility. NKU’s win total was an improvement of 15 victories from the previous season, marking the third-best turnaround in the nation behind only UCLA and Minnesota.
Brannen guided NKU to a 22-10 mark, the Horizon League regular-season championship and an NIT appearance in 2017-18. NKU posted a Division I-era record 26 wins with eight losses in 2018-19, claiming the league regular-season championship and tournament title and its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.
Brannen’s players earned 10 Horizon League postseason accolades at NKU, highlighted by Drew McDonald receiving league player of the year honors in 2019. NKU finished 2018-19 ranked 11th in the nation in both total assists (592) and assists per game (16.9). The Norse also ranked nationally in field goal shooting percentage (27th at .478), scoring margin (28th at +9.6), assist-to-turnover ratio (32nd at 1.34), three-point shooting defense (34th at .314), rebound margin (43rd at +4.5) and scoring offense (44th at 78.5 points).
Brannen came to NKU after spending six seasons (2010-2015) at Alabama coaching under Anthony Grant, four as an assistant coach and two as the associate head coach. The Crimson Tide made four postseason appearances during his stay. Alabama finished as the runners up at the 2011 NIT, posting a 25-12 overall mark and winning the Southeastern Conference West Division title. The Crimson Tide made an NCAA Tournament appearance the following season and later advanced to the NIT quarterfinals in 2013 and the second round of the NIT in 2015. Brannen served as interim head coach for Alabama’s two games in the 2015 NIT. While in Tuscaloosa, Brannen helped sign Alabama’s 2011 recruiting class that ranked fifth in the nation according to Rivals.com.
Prior to Alabama, Brannen served as an assistant coach at VCU for three seasons (2007-09) under Anthony Grant, helping lead the Rams to three 20-win campaigns, two NCAA Tournament appearances (2007, 2009) and a showing in the NIT (2008). The 2007 squad posted a 28-7 mark, upsetting Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Brannen helped recruit Larry Sanders, who later was drafted by Milwaukee as the 15th pick in the 2010 NBA draft and also helped recruit four of VCU’s five starters on its 2011 Final Four team.
Brannen also was an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure (2004-06) for three seasons, Eastern Kentucky (2001-2003) for three seasons and Charleston for the 1999-2000 campaign.
A native of nearby Alexandria, Ky., Brannen attended Newport Central Catholic High School. He began his collegiate playing career at Morehead State before transferring to Marshall for his final two seasons, playing for head coaches Billy Donovan (1996) and Greg White (1997).
Brannen was a first team All-Southern Conference selection as a senior at Marshall in 1996-97 when he led the league in scoring, averaging 20.9 points. He scored 1,008 points in two seasons with the Thundering Herd and still ranks among the school’s top 25 players in career free throw percentage (.777), career three-pointers made (14th at 135), career three-point shooting percentage (14th at .386), single-season scoring (12th with 605 points in 1996-97) and single-season scoring average (23rd with 20.9 points during 1996-97).
A Rhodes Scholar finalist, Brannen received scholarships from both the NCAA and Southern Conference. He earned a degree in business management from Marshall in 1997. He was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame in September 2019.
Following his time at Marshall, Brannen played two seasons of professional basketball in Belgium’s First Division before beginning his coaching career.
Brannen and his wife Lisa live in Northern Kentucky and are the proud parents of twin daughters, Jaylee and Katelyn.
// THE BRANNEN FILE
Hometown: Alexandria, Ky.
Alma Mater: Marshall, 1997
Family: wife, Lisa; twin daughters, Jaylee and Katelyn
// COACHING EXPERIENCE
1999-2000: Assistant Coach, Charleston
2001-2003: Assistant Coach, Eastern Kentucky
2004-2006: Assistant Coach, St. Bonaventure
2007-2009: Assistant Coach, VCU
2010-2013: Assistant Coach, Alabama
2014-2015: Associate Head Coach, Alabama
2016-2019: Head Coach, Northern Kentucky
2019-Present: Head Coach, Cincinnati
// AWARDS
2017 Horizon League Coach of the Year
Member of prestigious Villa 7 Consortium since 2006
// PLAYING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Began collegiate career at Morehead State (1994, 1995) before transferring to Marshall (1996, 1997)
Scored 1,008 points in two seasons at Marshall, playing for Billy Donovan (1996) and Greg White (1997)
Named First Team All-Southern Conference (1997)
Inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame (2019)
The achievement seems to be a pattern for Brannen, who also won regular-season crowns his last two seasons across the Ohio River at Northern Kentucky (2018, 2019) before coming to Cincinnati.
The feat also puts Brannen in rare company nationally as one of only six active coaches to have won a conference regular-season crown in each of the past three seasons along with Gonzaga’s Mark Few (eight consecutive West Coast Conference titles), Vermont’s John Becker (four American East Conference titles), New Mexico State’s Chris Jans (three Western Athletic Conference titles), Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (three Big Ten Conference titles), and Murray State’s Matt McMahon (three Ohio Valley Conference titles).
Brannen also became the fifth UC coach in history to win a regular-season conference title in his first year leading the program, joining Frank Rice (1929 - Buckeye Athletic Association), John Wiethe (1947 - Mid-American Conference), Ed Jucker (1961 - Missouri Valley) and Tay Baker (1966 - Missouri Valley Conference).
Brannen, who was named UC’s 27th head coach in program history on Apr. 14, 2019, had served as NKU’s head coach since the 2015-2016 season, taking the Norse to unprecedented success as the school’s athletics department underwent reclassification. Since earning active Division I status eligibility prior to the start of the 2016-17 season, the Norse men’s basketball program has compiled a 72-30 overall record, making three consecutive postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament [2017, 2019], NIT [2018]), winning back-to-back Horizon League regular-season championships (2018, 2019) and claiming a pair of conference tournament titles (2017, 2019). No other school in the nation has enjoyed NKU’s amount of success in its first three years with active status at the Division I level.
Brannen, whose coaching career spans 20 seasons, owns a 102-62 career record as head coach, including a 20-10 mark at Cincinnati. He registered an 81-51 ledger in four seasons at NKU and a 1-1 mark as Alabama’s interim head coach at the end of the 2014-15 campaign.
The 2017 Horizon League Coach of the Year, Brannen led the Norse to a 24-11 record in 2016-17, the Horizon League Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the school’s first season of active status eligibility. NKU’s win total was an improvement of 15 victories from the previous season, marking the third-best turnaround in the nation behind only UCLA and Minnesota.
Brannen guided NKU to a 22-10 mark, the Horizon League regular-season championship and an NIT appearance in 2017-18. NKU posted a Division I-era record 26 wins with eight losses in 2018-19, claiming the league regular-season championship and tournament title and its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.
Brannen’s players earned 10 Horizon League postseason accolades at NKU, highlighted by Drew McDonald receiving league player of the year honors in 2019. NKU finished 2018-19 ranked 11th in the nation in both total assists (592) and assists per game (16.9). The Norse also ranked nationally in field goal shooting percentage (27th at .478), scoring margin (28th at +9.6), assist-to-turnover ratio (32nd at 1.34), three-point shooting defense (34th at .314), rebound margin (43rd at +4.5) and scoring offense (44th at 78.5 points).
Brannen came to NKU after spending six seasons (2010-2015) at Alabama coaching under Anthony Grant, four as an assistant coach and two as the associate head coach. The Crimson Tide made four postseason appearances during his stay. Alabama finished as the runners up at the 2011 NIT, posting a 25-12 overall mark and winning the Southeastern Conference West Division title. The Crimson Tide made an NCAA Tournament appearance the following season and later advanced to the NIT quarterfinals in 2013 and the second round of the NIT in 2015. Brannen served as interim head coach for Alabama’s two games in the 2015 NIT. While in Tuscaloosa, Brannen helped sign Alabama’s 2011 recruiting class that ranked fifth in the nation according to Rivals.com.
Prior to Alabama, Brannen served as an assistant coach at VCU for three seasons (2007-09) under Anthony Grant, helping lead the Rams to three 20-win campaigns, two NCAA Tournament appearances (2007, 2009) and a showing in the NIT (2008). The 2007 squad posted a 28-7 mark, upsetting Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Brannen helped recruit Larry Sanders, who later was drafted by Milwaukee as the 15th pick in the 2010 NBA draft and also helped recruit four of VCU’s five starters on its 2011 Final Four team.
Brannen also was an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure (2004-06) for three seasons, Eastern Kentucky (2001-2003) for three seasons and Charleston for the 1999-2000 campaign.
A native of nearby Alexandria, Ky., Brannen attended Newport Central Catholic High School. He began his collegiate playing career at Morehead State before transferring to Marshall for his final two seasons, playing for head coaches Billy Donovan (1996) and Greg White (1997).
Brannen was a first team All-Southern Conference selection as a senior at Marshall in 1996-97 when he led the league in scoring, averaging 20.9 points. He scored 1,008 points in two seasons with the Thundering Herd and still ranks among the school’s top 25 players in career free throw percentage (.777), career three-pointers made (14th at 135), career three-point shooting percentage (14th at .386), single-season scoring (12th with 605 points in 1996-97) and single-season scoring average (23rd with 20.9 points during 1996-97).
A Rhodes Scholar finalist, Brannen received scholarships from both the NCAA and Southern Conference. He earned a degree in business management from Marshall in 1997. He was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame in September 2019.
Following his time at Marshall, Brannen played two seasons of professional basketball in Belgium’s First Division before beginning his coaching career.
Brannen and his wife Lisa live in Northern Kentucky and are the proud parents of twin daughters, Jaylee and Katelyn.
// THE BRANNEN FILE
Hometown: Alexandria, Ky.
Alma Mater: Marshall, 1997
Family: wife, Lisa; twin daughters, Jaylee and Katelyn
// COACHING EXPERIENCE
1999-2000: Assistant Coach, Charleston
2001-2003: Assistant Coach, Eastern Kentucky
2004-2006: Assistant Coach, St. Bonaventure
2007-2009: Assistant Coach, VCU
2010-2013: Assistant Coach, Alabama
2014-2015: Associate Head Coach, Alabama
2016-2019: Head Coach, Northern Kentucky
2019-Present: Head Coach, Cincinnati
// AWARDS
2017 Horizon League Coach of the Year
Member of prestigious Villa 7 Consortium since 2006
// PLAYING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Began collegiate career at Morehead State (1994, 1995) before transferring to Marshall (1996, 1997)
Scored 1,008 points in two seasons at Marshall, playing for Billy Donovan (1996) and Greg White (1997)
Named First Team All-Southern Conference (1997)
Inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame (2019)
| SEASON | SCHOOL (LEAGUE) | POSITION | RECORD | LEAGUE RECORD | LEAGUE FINISH | LEAGUE TOURNEY FINISH | POSTSEASON FINISH |
| 2014-15 | Alabama (SEC) | Interim Head Coach | 1-1 | 0-0 | T-8th | NIT Second Round (1-1) | |
| 2015-16 | Northern Kentucky (Horizon) | Head Coach | 9-21 | 5-13 | 8th | First Round (0-1) | None |
| 2016-17 | Northern Kentucky (Horizon) | Head Coach | 24-11 | 12-6 | T-3rd | Champions (3-0) | NCAA First Round (0-1) |
| 2017-18 | Northern Kentucky (Horizon) | Head Coach | 22-10 | 15-3 | 1st | First Round (0-1) | NIT First Round (0-1) |
| 2018-19 | Northern Kentucky (Horizon) | Head Coach | 26-9 | 13-5 | T-1st | Champions (3-0) | NCAA First Round (0-1) |
| 2019-20 | Cincinnati (American) | Head Coach | 20-10 | 13-5 | T-1st | None - COVID-19 | None - COVID-19 |
| TOTALS | Six Seasons | 102-62 (.622) | 58-32 (.644) |