CHICAGO - Jimmy Collins, one of the greatest New Mexico State University men's basketball players of all time, has passed away at the age of 74 it was announced today by his family.
The star of the Aggies' magical Final Four run in 1970, Collins is the only NM State player to be named to an All-American team three times. Under head coach Lou Henson, the native of Syracuse, N.Y. also led his team to a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances. To this day, Collins holds two single-season records: scoring (754 points) and field goals made (322). Additionally, Collins ranks third on NM State's all-time scoring list with 1,734 points, although he played before the three-point shot was adopted by college basketball.
On the fabled 1969-70 Final Four team, Collins was the team's leading scorer (24.6 ppg) while also averaging 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest. As a result of his spectacular play, he was named a First Team All-American by three separate entities (Converse, Helms and the USBWA). He was chosen as the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region MVP before earning a spot on the NCAA's All-Final Four Team, and he was also a two-time NCAA All-Tournament team selection.
The eleventh overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1970 NBA Draft, Collins played 74 games over the course of two seasons (1970-72). After his playing career, he returned to Las Cruces to serve as graduate assistant for Lou Henson's Aggies for two years.
Collins signed on again as an assistant coach with Lou Henson at the University of Illinois in 1983. During his 13-year tenure in that role, Collins established himself as one of college basketball's premier assistant coaches and recruiters. He had an integral role in helping the Fighting Illini sign future NBA players Nick Anderson, Marcus Liberty, Kendall Gill, Deon Thomas and other members of the "Flying Illini's" 1989 Final Four team.
In 1996, Collins was named the head coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). During his 14-year career there, he led the Flames to a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances (1998, 2002 and 2004) and accumulated 218 victories, by far the most of any coach in school history. Collins retired in the summer of 2010.
During the 2006-07 season, Collins—already a U.S. Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Fame member—was selected to the Aggies' All-Century team. Among the others named were Coach Lou Henson as well as Charlie Criss and Sam Lacey, teammates of Collins on the 1969-70 Final Four squad.
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