UT Martin has hired two new head basketball coaches after recent resignations. Jason James will lead the men’s team while Kevin McMillan will take over the women’s team from former player and coach Tara Tansil.

Ever since the St. Louis native was 10, James wanted to be a head basketball coach. Now, 21 years later he gets his chance as he leads the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions at UT Martin. He was named the university’s eighth head coach since 1951 in June when Bret Campbell announced his resignation after 10 seasons. James, who had been an assistant to Campbell for the past seven years, is the nation’s second youngest NCAA Division I head coach at the age of 31.

James came to UT Martin in 2002 from Forest Park Community College in St. Louis where he was an assistant men’s basketball coach for two years.

James earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education and health with a coaching endorsement from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, in 2000. For two seasons, he served as captain of the Graceland University basketball team. He was voted Graceland Freshman Basketball Player of the Year for the 1996-97 season and was named the Most Valuable Team Player during the 1999-2000 season.

McMillan, who has an impressive resume at both the collegiate and high school levels, also was introduced to Skyhawks fans in June.

The 42-year-old McMillan becomes the eighth head coach in UT Martin women’s basketball history. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Middle Tennessee State under head coach Rick Insell and has 17 years as a high school head coach. He sports an overall record of 484-135 and most recently led Gibson County High School to an undefeated 35-0 season and a Tennessee state championship.

At Middle Tennessee, McMillan was the head assistant in charge of recruiting and on-floor coaching.
As a floor coach, he was responsible for the offensive and defensive game plans and implementation. With McMillan on the sidelines at Middle Tennessee, the Blue Raiders achieved a record of 50-15 overall.

In his 17 years as a high school head coach, he amassed a record of 434-120, while winning one state title and making six trips to the state tournament. McMillan’s teams have also captured 17 district, region and sub-state championships, earning him numerous coaching accolades.

Under his coaching leadership, 31 players have gone on to play basketball in college. Two of McMillan’s former players, Randi Morgan and Megan Fuqua, played at UT Martin. Morgan was a four-year member from 1999-03 and Fuqua played two seasons from 2003-05 before transferring to Lambuth University.

McMillan played basketball at Wake Forest for one season, 1985, before transferring to Rhodes College to finish out his career from 1986-89. At Rhodes he was a three-time all-conference selection and in 1988 was named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. In only three seasons, McMillan scored 1,372 career points and still ranks ninth all-time at Rhodes for career-points scored.

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