Jim Shaw
- Associate Head Coach
In 2022-23, Shaw helped lead the Cougars to a 17-17 record, despite dealing with many preseason injuries. This record earned them a bid to the NIT for the second year in a row. Second round pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Mouhamed Gueye, conducted the Cougar offense to a 68.4 points per game average shooting .424 from the floor. 19 made field goals from behind the arc helped push the Cougars past Detroit Mercy in their largest margin of victory of the season, 42.
Jim Shaw came to the Palouse for his first season with Kyle Smith in 2019-20 after four seasons as the head coach at his alma mater, Western Oregon, where he compiled a 102-30 overall record and led the Wolves to No. 1 Rankings and to the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament three times. Shaw has over 25 years of Division I coaching experience, including nine seasons as an assistant coach at Washington. He was named the Cougars' Associate Head Coach after the 2020-21 season.
In his first year leading the program at Western Oregon in 2015-16, Shaw led the Wolves to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season title, its first GNAC Championships tournament title, and the No. 1 seed in the 2016 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball West Regional Tournament. The Wolves defended the home court three times to advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. It marked the first time that Western Oregon advanced to the round of eight in a national tournament since 1982. At the final site, the Wolves defeated Saginaw Valley to advance to the NCAA DII Final Four. In addition, Shaw led Western Oregon to its first No. 1 ranking in program history, as he was named the GNAC Coach of the Year.
He was once again named the GNAC Coach of the Year and West Region Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) in 2017-18 as Shaw led the Wolves to a 31-2 record, tying the GNAC single-season record for wins, and set a GNAC mark with 19 conference victories. The Wolves led the GNAC in scoring at 83.3 points per game and finished the year ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II in total steals (322), fifth in scoring margin (+16.4), sixth in steals per game (9.8), ninth in total assists (575) and 10th in field goal percentage (.497).
The Wolves advanced to the NCAA West Regional for the third time under Shaw in 2018-19, falling to top-ranked Point Loma. WOU finished with a 22-11 overall record including a 13-7 league mark, falling to Seattle Pacific, 78-66, in the championship game.
Shaw spent two seasons alongside Randy Bennett at Saint Mary's College as a special assistant to the head coach during the 2013-14 season before becoming an assistant coach in 2014-15. With the Gaels, Shaw helped guide SMC to back-to-back 20-plus wins seasons as well as a pair of postseason appearances.
Prior to Saint Mary's, Shaw spent nine seasons (2004-2013) as an assistant coach at the University of Washington alongside former head coach Lorenzo Romar. During his time at Washington, the Huskies went a combined 208-100, which is the best nine-year record in school history, while also going 118-54 from 2009-2013 to mark the best five-year stretch in school history.
During that span, Shaw was a part of five Pac-10 Championships, five NCAA Tournament appearances, and three appearances in the Sweet 16. He was pivotal in the Huskies' run to their first Pac-10 Tournament championship in 2005 and first No. 1 seed into the NCAA Tournament.
Before Washington, Shaw served the previous five seasons (1999-2004) at the University of Oklahoma on Kelvin Sampson's staff. He helped the Sooners to a 131-37 record, three Big 12 Tournament titles, a Final Four appearance in 2002 and an Elite Eight berth in 2003.
From 1994 through 1999, Shaw served as assistant coach at the University of Portland where he helped the Pilots to a pair of 20-win campaigns and a 1996 NCAA Tournament berth, which was the school's first in over 30 years.
Shaw coached at Oregon State during the 1990 and 1991 seasons alongside Jim Anderson, as the nationally-ranked 1990 Beaver team, which featured Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton, won the Pac-10 championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Shaw's first assistant coaching assignment came in 1986-87 at Idaho State where he helped lead the Bengals to an impressive run to the Big Sky Tournament championship and the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth. That was ISU's first NCAA appearance in 10 years.
A 1985 graduate of Western Oregon State College, Shaw was an NAIA honorable mention All-American and district MVP runner-up as a senior. During his career with the Wolves, Shaw played for WOU Hall of Fame coach Jim Boutin and helped lead WOSC to a win-loss record of 72-20 over a three-year stretch. He earned his master's degree in athletic administration from Idaho State in 1986. A native of Chimacum, Wash., Shaw attended Chimacum High School where he was an all-state performer in both basketball and football.
Shaw has two grown children – daughter Brittany and son Bradley.
