Jim Wooldridge, Head Coach
Jim Wooldridge is entering his third season as head coach of the UC Riverside Men’s Basketball program after being named the sixth head coach in team history on May 2, 2007.
The Oklahoma City native inherited a program that went 7-24 with one win in Big West Conference play in 2006-07 and had yet to experience a winning season since making the transition to Division I in 2001-02.
During his first year at the helm, Wooldridge and the team exceeded all expectations by finishing seventh in the league and defeating Cal Poly 62-54 in the First Round of the conference tournament for just the second Big West Tournament win in the program’s history.
The following year saw the Highlanders cement their standing as a team on the rise in the Big West breaking numerous Division I-era program records including posting the team’s first-ever winning season (17-13), winning the most games ever at home (11) and on the road (6), winning the most conference games ever (8) and finishing in a tie for fourth place in the Big West.
The 2008-09 Highlanders also ranked 27th in the nation in scoring defense (60.6 ppg), 38th in three-point field goal percentage (37.7%) and 60th in rebound differential (+3.4).
Sophomore swingman Kyle Austin added another first to the Highlanders record books when, at seasons’ end, he was rewarded with a First-Team, All-Conference nod—the first such Big West accolade in the program’s history.
Teamwork, defense and tough rebounding have historically characterized the hallmarks of Wooldridge’s squads. His 20-plus year career includes stops as head coach at Central Missouri State, Texas State, Louisiana Tech and Kansas State and two years as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls.
Prior to joining the Highlanders, Wooldridge spent six years at Kansas State, leading the Wildcats to their first winning season in six years in 2004-05 when the team posted a 17-12 mark in the Big 12. His teams never finished with fewer than 11 wins and his 83 wins ranks sixth on Kansas State’s all-time wins list.
Wooldridge saw six players earn All-Big 12 honors and coached 2004 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jeremiah Massey. Guard Larry Reid (2002), forwards Cartier Martin (2006, 2007) and Jeremiah Massey (2005) each earned All-Big 12 second team honors during their careers.
From 1998-2000, Wooldridge worked as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls under former college teammate Tim Floyd. He was instrumental in the development of several top NBA players, including 1999-2000 Co-Rookie of the Year Elton Brand and Ron Artest, who earned All-Rookie team honors that same year. He was considered the staff authority on the triangle offense, having taught it at Louisiana Tech, and learning it from friend and triangle “guru” Tex Winter.
Wooldridge began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Louisiana Tech in the 1977-78 season, and then spent four years as an assistant at NAIA East Central State. He returned to the NCAA in 1982 as a member of Lynn Nance’s staff at Division II Central Missouri State, where he was the program’s chief recruiter. When Nance left following the 1985 season, Wooldridge was named head coach. He led the team to 20-or-more wins four times, including a 27-6 season in which they lost to CSU Bakersfield in the NCAA Finals. Wooldridge is the only coach in CMSU history to record back-to-back 25-win seasons. For his efforts, Wooldridge was inducted into the Central Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame on February 28, 2004.
He made his Division I head coaching debut when he was hired at Texas State (then Southwest Texas State) in 1991-92. He turned around a program that had suffered through seven consecutive sub-.500 seasons, getting the program above .500 in his second year. By his third season, the squad was 25-7 and made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
From there, Wooldridge was hired at his alma mater, Louisiana Tech. He took over a program that won just nine games the previous two years combined and guided the Bulldogs to a pair of winning seasons in his first three campaigns, including a 14-13 record in his first year. It was a remarkable improvement considering Louisiana Tech was coming off NCAA probation and a 2-25 record the previous season (1993-94). Even more impressive was the fact that the Bulldogs posted a .500 conference record that year after going winless in Sun Belt play the year before (0-18).
Wooldridge played on Putnam City (OK) High School’s class 4A state championship team in 1972. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Louisiana Tech in 1977, and then earned a master’s degree in education from East Central University in 1979. Wooldridge and his wife, Ann, have two children, Jamie and Eric.
Vonn Webb, Assistant Coach
A heralded and respected recruiter, Vonn Webb joined the UC Riverside men’s basketball coaching staff in the spring of 2005 after two years at Fresno State University, bringing with him over 17 years of coaching experience.
Webb joined Ray Lopes’ staff at Fresno State in 2003, where he assisted in all aspects of recruiting as well as individual player development.
Webb was an acclaimed coach at Washington Union High School in Fresno, CA, where he served two terms of duty, from 1995-99 and 2000-03, amassing an .850 winning percentage (182-32). During his career he helped to develop some of the top basketball talent coming out of the San Joaquin Valley, including current NBA players Chris Jeffries and Deshawn Stevenson. During his tenure he earned a pair of CIF State Championships, five section championships, seven league championships and two section runners-up.
Webb earned several honors, including California State Coach of the Year in 1996-97 and Fresno Bee Central Section Coach of the Year in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
He also has 15 years of teaching experience including health, physical education, world history, English, literature and multicultural studies.
Webb spent the 1999-00 season as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming under Coach Steve McClain. That year the Cowboys posted a 19-12 record and reached the semi-finals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Webb attended Neosho County Community College in Chanute Kansas from 1981-83, where he was a two-year letter winner. He went on to Kansas State University for a year, then transferred to Western New Mexico University, where he earned his degree in 1989. While at WNMU he played football and basketball, earning all-league honors in football.
Webb is a member of the Black Coaches Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Away from the court he participates as a board member for the “Hope for Youth” group homes.
Dennis Cutts, Assistant Coach
Dennis Cutts joined the UC Riverside men’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach in May, 2007, rejoining Head Coach Jim Wooldridge, with whom he had worked at Kansas State as the team’s director of basketball operations. Cutts brings over 15 years of coaching experience to the Highlander bench.
As the director of basketball operations with the Wildcats, Cutts assisted in coordinating recruiting activities for the program, running the Jim Wooldridge Basketball Camp, organizing K-State coaching clinics and overseeing the Wildcat Faculty/Staff Club. In addition, he coordinated all team travel and oversaw special projects for the basketball office.
Cutts was an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for Phil Johnson at San Jose State from 2002 to 2005. He assisted in the development and recruitment of several all-conference players, including Marquin Chandler, a second team All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) forward. In addition to his on-the-floor coaching duties, Cutts was in charge of the team’s scheduling of opponents and facilities as well as academic monitoring.
Cutts was a four-year letter winner at State University of New York at Albany, helping his team to four consecutive winning seasons, including three 20-win seasons. As a senior, Cutts was team captain and most valuable player of a Great Dane squad that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in business administration in 1990.
Following graduation, the Massapequa, NY native began his coaching career in Killarney, Ireland in 1990 as a player-coach for the St. Paul’s Basketball Club senior men’s “A” team. He also coached the men’s “B” team, the senior women’s “A” team and boys’ teams ranging in ages up to 19-years-old. In addition, he was an instructor at the Institute for International Sport in Killarney.
He returned to the United States in 1991 and spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Pima Community College (1991-94) in Tucson, AZ and two as an assistant coach at Northland Pioneer College (1994-96) in Holbrook, AZ.
Cutts reached the Division I level in 1996 when he joined the staff at Stephen F. Austin, spending three years as the program’s recruiting coordinator and overseeing the development of the Lumberjacks’ offense. He then moved on to Northern Arizona and worked under Mike Adras, where he was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 1999 through 2002. In 2000 he helped the Lumberjacks to a 20-11 mark, the Big Sky Tournament Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He coordinated the team’s offensive schemes and worked in the development of the perimeter players. Cutts also had duties in scouting opponents and academic supervision.
Cutts is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He and his wife Evon reside in Riverside.
Chris Brazelton, Assistant Coach
Chris Brazelton was named a member of the UC Riverside men’s basketball coaching staff in the summer of 2007. He joined UCR from the University of New Orleans, where he spent the 2006-07 season as a graduate assistant coach under Privateers’ Head Coach Buzz Williams.
Brazelton is a native of Highland, CA and is a graduate of nearby Redlands East Valley High School. He earned his undergraduate degree in speech communication from Fresno State in May of 2006, working as head manager under Head Coach Steve Cleveland.
Brazelton began his collegiate career at UC Santa Cruz, averaging 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He then transferred to Fresno State, where he made the team as a walk-on and redshirted in 2003-04. In 2004-05 he was named a Fresno State Scholar-Athlete.
An All-Citrus Belt performer in both basketball and track in high school, Brazelton was also a member of the National Honor Society and the California Scholastic Federation. He was rated as one of the top shooting guards in California by socalhoops.com. He played for the Inland Empire Basketball Program AAU team under the guidance of Coaches Keith Howard and Julius Patterson, and appeared in the 2001 IEBP All-Star game in Riverside County.
Brazelton earned his masters degree in strategic communications in September of 2009 from National University graduating with honors (3.53). He is single and resides in Riverside. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, listening to music and reading.
John Smallwood, Director of Operations
John Smallwood was named the director of basketball operations at UC Riverside in May, 2007, following four years as a student-manager at Kansas State University under Coaches Jim Wooldridge and Bob Huggins.
As the Wildcats’ senior manager, he set up practices, helped with correspondence to recruits and assisted the staff.
Smallwood graduated from Kansas State University in 2006 with a degree in social science. He is a graduate of Shawnee Mission West HS in Overland Park, KS. Smallwood also served as an AAU assistant in Kansas City from 1999-2003.
Smallwood resides in Riverside.