Dr. Jim Larson has spent over fifteen years as a college basketball coach, including the last three as an assistant Men’s coach at Azusa Pacific.
His extensive coaching background has seen success at multiple levels including high school, junior college, AAU, NAIA, and NCAA Divisions I and II.
Larson first began coaching and Edison High in Fresno, CA where he guided the Tigers to 2 league titles and the schools first CIF championship in over 30 years while earning Coach of the Year honors in the historic season.
In his first year at the collegiate level, Larson spent one year at Westmont College helping the Warriors post a 17-8 record.
Larson spent the next four years as the first head coach at Cal State Bakersfield where he accumulated a 66-39 record and led the Roadrunners to their first CCAA title and NCAA berth in just their second year of existence. Jim was also recognized as the National Association of Basketball Coaches District Coach of the Year.
Jim took time off from coaching to earn his doctorate degree, teaching at Pepperdine University for two years before returning as an assistant under Jim Harrick.
In 1980, Larson began coaching at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington where he guided the Pirates to three Northwest Conference titles while posting a 66-42 record in four seasons, also earning the Northwest College Coach of the year.
He then spent three years at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA going 47-37 before pursuing a career in finance.
In 12 seasons as a head coach at the collegiate level, Larson tallied a 196-126 record.
For fifteen years, Larson worked in financial services while spending some free time as an AAU coach. The last two summers, Larson traveled to India and West Africa to work coaching clinics for Athletes in Action. In addition, he last served as an associate professor at APU and now holds the same position at Biola.
Larson’s alma mater is Bethel College in St. Paul, MN. He earned a master’s of education from Fresno State University and has a doctorate in education from UCLA.
Jim and his wife Sylvia live in Dove Canyon, CA where they celebrate their family of seven children and six grandchildren.
