James Cosgrove

James Cosgrove begins his 12th season as head men's basketball coach at Trinity College in 2021-22, after guiding the Bantams through last year's pandemic and to a 17-9 overall record and a trip to the NESCAC Semifinals in 2019-20. Over his last seven seasons, Trinity is tied for the best record in the NESCAC record of the league's 11 teams at 42 wins and just 18 losses.

Two winter's ago, Trinity finished among the top four places in the conference standings for the fifth time in the last six year with a 6-4 record in the league, and has played its way into the NESCAC Semifinals in five of the last seven seasons of the tournament.

Trinity bounced nationally-ranked Middlebury, 100-82, at home in the 2020 NESCAC Quarterfinals before falling at top-seeded Tufts in the semifinals, 87-73. In 2016-17, Trinity posted a road win in the NESCAC Quarters at Wesleyan, before falling to Middlebury in the next round. In 2015-16, Cosgrove and the Bantams went 19-8 and played in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the second year in a row, while Trinity was 23-7, hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tourney, and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third time in program history in 2014-15. The Bantams ended 2015 ranked No. 17 nationally in the D3Hoops.com poll. Cosgrove also led Trinity to the NESCAC Semifinals in 2011 and 2014.

Trinity's historic run to the 2014-15 NCAA Elite Eight included NCAA wins over Colby-Sawyer (58-55), Salisbury (60-47), and Bates (79-62), and the Bantams came an overtime road loss against Babson (76-69) shy of reaching the program's second NCAA Final Four. Trinity won nine of ten conference games during the regular season, including six on the road, and hosted the NESCAC Final Four . The Bantams repeated the feat the next winter, defeating every NESCAC team in the regular season except NCAA Final Four-bound Amherst, and again hosted the NESCAC Final Four in Oosting Gymnasium. Trinity received an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, but dropped a 75-73 decision against Johnson and Wales in the opening round. Cosgrove was honored as the 2014-15 NESCAC Coach of the Year and the 2015-16 Trinity Athletic Department Coach of the Year.

Cosgrove-coached teams are well-known for their toughness and 2019-20 was no exception, as the Bantams finished eight nationally in rebounding with 43.9 per game. In 2018-19, the Bantams finished among the top 25 nationally in both field-goal percentage defense (40.0%) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (30.3%). The Bantams finished fourth nationally in field-goal percentage defense (38.1%), 10th in three-point, field-goal percentage defense (30.3%), and 17th in scoring defense (65.1 ppg) in 2017-18, and were 16th nationally in scoring defense (65.3 ppg) in 2016-17, and sixth in the nation in field goal-percentage defense (.386) in 2015-16. Trinity finished No. 2 nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.368) and third in three-point field-goal percentage defense (.277) in 2014-15, and was ranked second nationally in rebounding margin (+9.7 per game) in 2013-14. Cosgrove is 155-104 in twelve seasons at Trinity, and has a 394-241 record in 24 seasons as a coach for a .619 winning percentage.

Prior to Trinity, Cosgrove posted a 166-77 record at Division II Adelphi University over eight seasons, and also served as head coach at Endicott College. Cosgrove’s teams posted a winning record and reached the post-season in each of his eight seasons at Adelphi. The Panthers won 20 or more games six times, won three league titles, and earned four NCAA Tournament bids in a five-year span. In 2009-10, Adelphi earned a 22-10 mark played in the Northeast-10 tournament finals. His 2008-09 Adelphi squad led NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (37.6) and was fourth nationally in scoring defense (58.9 ppg). Cosgrove was named as the East Coast Conference (ECC) Coach of the Year in 2004-05 and as the Metropolitan Writers Association Division II Coach of the Year in both 2004-05 and 2005-06. At Endicott, Cosgrove accumulated a 73-60 record including an 18-10 record in 1999-00, the program’s first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship title, and its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. His 1998-99 Endicott team won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular-season crown and earned Cosgrove GNAC Coach of the Year honors.

Cosgrove also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, St. Anselm College, from 1993-97, helping the Hawks to an 89-29 record, three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and a pair of conference championships. Also owning coaching experience at St. Thomas More Prep School in Connecticut and at the University of Hartford, Cosgrove graduated from St. Anselm in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and owns a master’s degree in teaching from Sacred Heart University. He was a two-time All-Northeast 10 selection and the Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year in 1984. Serving as team captain from 1985-87, Cosgrove led St. Anselm to a 25-5 record and a No. 6 national ranking in the Division II Final Poll in 1987. He held the school's all-time record in assists and steals and was inducted into the St. Anselm College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2007, Cosgrove was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a player at St. Thomas Prep School and St. Anselm College. An associate professor in the Trinity athletic department, Cosgrove resides in West Hartford with his wife, Christine, and is the proud father of son, Casey, and daughters, Maggie and Callie.