# Jan van Breda Kolff

Jan van Breda Kolff (born December 16, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player and college coach. The son of coach Butch van Breda Kolff and grandson of Dutch soccer player Jan van Breda Kolff, he played from 1974 to 1976 for the Denver Nuggets, Kentucky Colonels, and Virginia Squires in the American Basketball Association, and the New York/New Jersey Nets in the National Basketball Association. From 1970 to 1974 he played for Vanderbilt University, and in 1974 he led the Commodores to a Southeastern Conference championship as SEC Player of the Year.
He also spent two years in Italy, from 1983 to 1985, helping Italian team Virtus Bologna win a championship.

## Coaching career

Van Breda Kolff was a player coach while playing in Italy. Then he became an assistant coach at Princeton in either 1985 or 1987.
Van Breda Kolff's tenure at St. Bonaventure ended abruptly in controversy late in the 2002–03 season. St. Bonaventure declared junior college transfer Jamil Terrell eligible to play without sitting out a year (as he would have been under NCAA rules if he had earned an associate degree), even though Terrell had only earned a welding certificate. Athletic director Gothard Lane had told school president Robert Wickenheiser that Terrell was ineligible to play that year. However, Wickenheiser, under prodding from his son Kort, who was also one of Van Breda Kolff's assistants, unilaterally declared Terrell eligible. School officials didn't seek guidance from the NCAA about Terrell's eligibility until the 2002–03 season was nearly over. The Bonnies were forced to forfeit every game in which Terrell played, and were also barred from the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. In protest, the Bonnies players opted to sit out the last two games. Van Breda Kolff denied knowing about the scandal and was cleared of wrongdoing. He would later take on an assistant coach role for the New Orleans Hornets following the scandal's aftermath.
On April 25, 2007, he was named as one of three finalists to become the new head coach of UC Riverside's men's basketball program.
Van Breda Kolff was named coach of the Nashville Broncos of the American Basketball Association in 2008. He stayed with the team through its name change to the Music City Stars but lost his job when the team disbanded in 2010.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Cornell Big Red (Ivy League) (1991–1993) ||||||
| 1991–92 | Cornell | 7–19 | 5–9 | 5th | |
| 1992–93 | Cornell | 16–10 | 9–5 | 3rd | |
| Cornell: | Cornell: | 23–29 (.442) | 14–14 (.500) | | |
| Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference) (1993–1999) ||||||
| 1993–94 | Vanderbilt | 20–12 | 9–7 | 3rd | NIT Runner-up |
| 1994–95 | Vanderbilt | 13–15 | 6–10 | 4th | |
| 1995–96 | Vanderbilt | 19–12 | 7–9 | 4th | NIT Second Round |
| 1996–97 | Vanderbilt | 18–14 | 9–7 | 4th | NCAA Division I First Round |
| 1997–98 | Vanderbilt | 20–13 | 7–9 | T–4th | NIT Quarterfinal |
| 1998–99 | Vanderbilt | 14–15 | 5–11 | 5th | |
| Vanderbilt: | Vanderbilt: | 104–81 (.562) | 43–53 (.448) | | |
| Pepperdine Waves (West Coast Conference) (1999–2001) ||||||
| 1999–00 | Pepperdine | 25–9 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Second Round |
| 2000–01 | Pepperdine | 22–9 | 12–2 | 2nd | NIT Second Round |
| Pepperdine: | Pepperdine: | 47–18 (.723) | 24–4 (.857) | | |
| St. Bonaventure Bonnies (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2001–2003) ||||||
| 2001–02 | St. Bonaventure | 17–13 | 8–8 | 6th | NIT Second Round |
| 2002–03 | St. Bonaventure | 13–14 | 7–9 | 7th | |
| St. Bonaventure: | St. Bonaventure: | 30–27 (.526) | 15–17 (.469) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 204–155 (.568) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||