Brian Earl has been named the new Robert E. Gallagher ’44 Head Coach of Men’s Basketball. Earl previously served as an assistant coach at Princeton for more than eight years, helping to bring the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament in 2011 after an eight-year absence.
The Princeton program has become an annual Ivy League contender during Earl’s tenure on the staff, achieving winning records in each of the last eight seasons. The Tigers finished the 2015-16 season at 22-7 overall and boasted a 12-2 league record to place second, just one game behind Ivy champion Yale.
Earl led the team’s defense and also played an important part in recruiting, working closely with head coach Mitch Henderson on most activities. During this time, Princeton reached the Big Dance in three consecutive years, even falling two points shy of advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2011 at the hands of eventual Final Four-bound Kentucky.
Earl graduated from Princeton in 1999 and currently holds the record for the most wins by any player in program history. He concluded his terrific playing career fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,428 career points, sixth with 263 assists, and seventh in steals with 140. Earl moved on to play professional basketball in Germany, England, and both the USBL and EBA in the U.S.
Earl replaces former head coach Bill Courtney, as Cornell decided not to renew his contract. Following 2010, when Steve Donahue led the Big Red to the Sweet 16, Cornell has failed to even crack the top four of the Ivy League, a fact that becomes even more important with the newly instituted conference tournament. Earl will hope to return the Big Red to the postseason for the first time in six years.
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