Bio

Jim Blaine enters his 10th year as Clarke’s head men’s basketball coach.  His 117 wins currently rank second to Jon Davison in Clarke all-time wins.  He has steadily built the Pride from a non-post-season team in their first year in the Heart of America Conference (2016-17) to the regular season and conference tournament runners up in 2019-20.  Blaine also lead Clarke to its first win over a top five ranked opponent in school history (William Penn #3, Jan. 31, 2020) and its first national ranking in school history.  The 2019-20 Clarke Pride men’s basketball team earned its first ever birth in the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City.  Although, the Coronavirus forced cancellation of the tournament.  Blaine became the second men’s basketball coach in school history to reach 100 wins on Dec. 31, 2021 vs. Bethel (IN).

Blaine led the Pride’s move to the Heart of America Athletic Conference seven years ago.  In their short Heart history they have twice reached the conference tournament semi-finals and played in the conference championship game once.  Their best conference finish was second place in 2019-20.  Blaine was the Heart Coach of the Year in 2020.

In Blaine’s nine years as CU head coach the Pride have produced 21 players who have received All-Conference recognition including three All-Americans, the two most recent being Darius Lasley and Keith Johnson in 2019-20, one Heart of America Freshman of the Year, and one Heart Newcomer of the Year.  The Pride have also had six different players named to the NAIA Scholar Athlete team.  The most recent being Chandler Dean and Royce Clark.

Prior to coaching at Clarke, Blaine amassed 281 wins in 20 years as a head high school coach in Wisconsin.  In his 14-years at Benton High School, he led his team to a 215-115 overall record.  His teams won seven conference championships including a league record six in a row from 2007-2012.  His 2009 Benton team was the smallest school in Wisconsin High School history to bring home a State Championship.

Blaine served 20 years on the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Board of Directors.  He also coached golf at Cuba City (WI) High School for four years, leading the Cubans to the 2012 WIAA Division 3 State Championship.

A graduate of UW-Platteville, Jim resides in Benton, WI with two of his sons, Eli and Wyn.  His oldest son, Rex, attends Clarke University and is a member of the Pride basketball team.