James Alford enters his second season in fall of 2015 with the Roadrunners basketball program after working as the Operations Assistant for the Memphis Tigers’ basketball team from 2011-14. He assisted with on-campus recruiting visits while overseeing student-athletes’ academic progress. Alford also ran the Tigers basketball website, InsideMemphisBasketball.com.
While Alford was with the University of Memphis, the Tigers went 81-24 and earned a spot in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship each year. In 2012-13, Memphis went 31-5 overall and 16-0 in Conference USA play.
Before working with Memphis, Alford spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach for the LSU Tigers football team under Head Coach Les Miles. During the 2009-10 season, he helped with the special teams while working with defense for the 2010-11 season. LSU had a two-year record of 20-6 during Alford’s stint and earned trips to two postseason bowls including the 2011 Cotton Bowl in which the Tigers beat Texas A&M 41-24. He earned a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology in 2011.
After graduating from Arizona in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in sociology, Alford worked for one year as a Wildcats student assistant coach (2009), specifically working with the linebackers and special teams. Arizona earned a 9-5 record that year as well as a Las Vegas Bowl victory over BYU. Prior to joining the coaching staff, he was a three-year letterwinner for the Wildcats football team (2006-08).
Alford is a native of Metairie, La.
