**Entering seventh season at Nebraska in 2006-07 (89-91 record)
**Entering 18th season as head coach in 2006-07 (285-223 record)
A 30-year veteran of the collegiate coaching ranks, Barry Collier enters his seventh season at the helm of the Nebraska program and has the Huskers poised to continue their upward rise in the conference and national landscape.
Last year, Nebraska posted its first upper-division finish in the rugged Big 12 Conference since 1998 ? three years before Collier's arrival ? by placing sixth en route to its second postseason berth in three years. Collier's steadying hand led NU to a 5-3 record in the first half of the conference slate before the Huskers finished off their third consecutive year with a move toward the top of the league standings.
Nebraska continued making strides in the conference tournament where it posted a pair of victories for its best effort since winning the 1994 Big Eight Tournament title.
With a great focus and determination, the Huskers followed Collier's game plan to near perfection as they knocked off Missouri in the first round and No. 22 Oklahoma in the second round to advance to the tourney semifinals for just the second time in the Big 12 era. It was only the third time since the formation of a conference postseason tournament in 1977 that Nebraska had won more than one contest.
The toughness, discipline and unselfish play-making the Huskers demonstrated during the tournament are the key ingredients to success that Collier and his staff have emphasized since he was named the 25th head men’s basketball coach at Nebraska on April 5, 2000. Collier also pushes his players to maximize their talents, exhibit creative play-making skills and play with a purpose and passion for each other. Commitment, teamwork, unity and loyalty are common words used when speaking of the trademarks of a Collier-led squad.
Fitting the mold of a tough-minded and skilled athlete that Collier is looking for is all-conference candidate Aleks Maric, one of the top returning post players in the league. The 6-11, 265-pound Australian was an honorable-mention all-league pick last year and enters the upcoming season as the top returning rebounder in the conference. Maric led the Big 12 in rebounding for conference-only games and paced the league with seven double-doubles in conference action as a sophomore last year.
Also back this season is Brooklyn, N.Y., native Jamel White, a flashy guard who was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team in 2006, the second Husker in as many years to earn all-frosh honors under Collier. White averaged double figures in conference play and moved into the NU freshman top 10 list in five categories. He also posted the second-highest single-game scoring effort by a Husker freshman in history with 28 points off the bench against Missouri.
Collier's passion for the game and his players has never wavered nor has his focus changed. Every year the direct goal of his team is to reach the postseason, an objective eight of his first 17 squads have accomplished. Two of those postseason berths have come in the past three years at Nebraska as the emphasis and recent success in recruiting All-Big 12-caliber players like Maric and White paid dividends.
Nebraska's postseason appearance last year came after winning 19 games, the most in Collier's tenure in Lincoln and the most by the Huskers since 1999. The Huskers posted 18 victories two years earlier and have averaged 17 wins per season since the start of the 2003-04 campaign.
The Huskers posted a pair of victories over nationally ranked teams in 2005-06, both coming against Oklahoma. NU knocked off the 12th-ranked Sooners in the Big 12 Conference opener and then defeated No. 22 OU a second time in as many tries with a solid victory in the league tournament.
Collier has led the Huskers to five wins over ranked teams in the past three seasons, including three victories against teams in the top 15. Three of Nebraska’s four largest margins of victory all-time over ranked teams have come in the past four years under Collier.
Nebraska's biggest win recently came against No. 4 Oklahoma State in 2005, when the Huskers stunned the Cowboys, 74-67, in Lincoln. The win was NU's first against a top-10 squad in more than a decade, and propelled the Huskers to finish the season with a 14-14 mark, their second straight .500 or better finish. Thirteen of the losses were to teams that qualified for postseason play and five losses were by five or fewer points.
The solid finish came a year after Nebraska earned its first postseason berth in five seasons ? and first under Collier ? while posting an 18-13 record in 2003-04. It was a seven-game improvement in the win column over the previous campaign and marked the eighth time Collier had led his team to either an NIT (five times) or NCAA Tournament (three) berth.
Nebraska’s 2004 postseason run lasted three games, with the Huskers reaching the second round of the tournament for the 12th time in school history. NU's second win of the postseason came against Niagara at home where Collier helped the Huskers post 15 wins on the season, the second-highest total in Devaney Center history. During his six years in Lincoln, Nebraska has averaged more than 11 home wins per season, including at least one home victory over a ranked team each season.
Senior forward Brian Conklin added to the number of record holders Collier has guided at Nebraska in 2004. A 6-11 forward, Conklin set the Nebraska and Big 12 single-season record for 3-point shooting by hitting 55.9 percent from outside the arc.
Conklin helped Nebraska make at least 200 3-pointers for just the second time in school history and the second time under Collier. The first time was 2001-02 when Nebraska set team records for 3-pointers made (267) and attempted (729) while ranking third in the nation in 3-pointers made per game (9.5). Nebraska also had the third-fewest turnovers in school history with just 317 in 28 games to rank sixth nationally (11.3), and set a single-game team record with just three turnovers at Iowa State, including only one in the first half.
Collier began rebuilding the program in 2000-01 when NU went 14-16 and made considerable strides to improve over the 19-loss campaign a year before his arrival. Cookie Belcher led the squad in Collier's first season and finished his career ranked third in NCAA history for steals while also earning second-team all-conference honors. He was the first of 10 Huskers to win 11 honors from the league coaches or Associated Press for their effort on the court since Collier's arrival.
Newcomers have also gained solid recognition, especially over the past four seasons. Two Huskers have earned all-freshman honors and two others have been named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team during that time. Two players have also been named to the all-reserve team after exhibiting a tremendous determination coming off the bench to lift the Huskers.
Collier's dedication to making student-athletes the best they can be does not stop on the court. He expects his players to be equally as determined and focused in their academic and athletic endeavors, and his fatherly care has shown dramatic results.
Nebraska has seen an unprecedented rise in academic standing during Collier's tenure, and among the most impressive numbers is a league-leading 15 first-team academic All-Big 12 selections over the past three seasons. Two of those players were also selected to the academic all-district squad last year and placed on the 2006 Academic All-America ballot. The men's basketball team has also been among the finalists for the Herman Award each of the past three years, given to the NU men's and women's programs with the highest team grade-point average.
In addition, 16 Huskers who played their senior season under Collier have picked up their degrees. During his career, 52-of-56 players who completed their senior seasons under Collier earned college diplomas, including all 36 at Butler. One more is on pace to earn his degree in August 2006.
Collier came to Nebraska after spending 11 years as the head coach at his alma mater, Butler University, and ended his tenure as the winningest coach in BU history. Collier helped his Bulldog teams to a 196-132 record, including nine winning seasons. Before Collier’s arrival at the Indianapolis school, Butler had posted just three winning seasons in the previous 15 years.
Collier coached Butler to five 20-win seasons, including 22 or more wins in each of his last four years. The Bulldogs had just two 20-win campaigns in their first 91 seasons of intercollegiate basketball before his arrival. In his last four years at Butler, Collier’s teams compiled a 90-39 (.698) overall record and made a school-record four consecutive postseason appearances.
The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament in 1997, 1998 and 2000, after not reaching the national tournament in the previous 35 seasons. In the first round of the 2000 East Regional, Butler took eventual national runner-up Florida to overtime before losing, 69-68, on a buzzer-beater. The loss to Florida ended Butler’s school-record 15-game winning streak.
In addition to three NCAA appearances, Butler also reached the National Invitation Tournament three times under Collier. The Bulldogs advanced to the third round of the 1999 NIT and also made appearances in 1991 and 1992.
Collier made Butler competitive on the national level while making the Bulldogs a dominant force in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. The Bulldogs won two MCC regular-season titles under Collier (1997 and 2000), and over his final five seasons, they posted a 55-19 (.743) league record. Collier’s teams also won the school’s first three MCC Tournament titles in 1997, 1998 and 2000.
Collier's outstanding conference record did not go unnoticed by his peers. Collier was named conference coach of the year four times, including 1991, 1997, 1999 and 2000. Seven student-athletes under Collier earned all-conference awards at Butler, including two conference player-of-the-year honors. Three of his players were two-time selections. In the classroom, one player under Collier was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American and one athlete earned a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Collier prepared for his head coaching career by serving as an assistant coach at five schools in 13 years. He began his coaching career at Rose Hulman Institute, then served as an assistant at Seattle Central Community College, the University of Idaho, the University of Oregon and Stanford University. As an assistant at Stanford under Mike Montgomery, Collier helped begin the turnaround of the Cardinal program. He assisted in trips to the 1988 NIT and the 1989 NCAA Tournament, when Stanford won 26 games and finished second in the Pac-10 Conference.
The announcement of Collier as Butler’s head coach in the spring of 1989 marked his return to the Indianapolis campus. Collier first went to Butler as a student-athlete in 1974, following two seasons at Miami Dade South Junior College. The 6-7 Collier played basketball for the Bulldogs for two seasons, leading the team in rebounding twice and finishing second on the team in scoring once. He was named a Butler co-captain as a senior and was awarded the team’s co-MVP trophy for the 1975-76 campaign.
Honoring both his athletic and coaching career at Butler, Collier was elected to the school's athletic hall of fame in January 2006. He will be honored on the last weekend of July as part of an eight-man induction class.
Collier earned an Associate of Arts degree from Miami Dade South Community College before earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Butler in 1976 and a Master of Science degree from Indiana State in 1977.
Collier was recognized by his coaching peers in 2002, as he was named to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Collier has been an NABC member for the past 29 years, and served as an NABC congressman as well as on several committees.
Collier and his wife, Annette, have been married since 1975. The couple have been involved in several charity events around the state, including serving as honorary chairpersons for the annual fund-raising event for the Child Advocacy Center in Lincoln. Collier also assisted the Red Cross and was honorary chairperson for the Capital Humane Society fund-raising event.
The Colliers have three sons, Casey, Brady, and Clay. Casey graduated from Nebraska in 2005 and is currently in his second year attending the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Brady is entering his senior year at Nebraska and Clay will be starting college this fall.