Ernest James is entering his second season at Cal State Bakersfield in Fall of 2025, serving the Roadrunner wrestling team as an Assistant Coach.
In his first season in Bakersfield, the `Runners produced one All-American, three NCAA Qualifiers, one Pac-12 Champion, five Academic All-Pac-12 honorees, two NWCA All-Academic Team members, and three CSC Academic All-District honorees. James played a vital role in 2024-25 in guiding Bakersfield heavyweight Jake Andrews to a 24-5 record and the senior's first NCAA Championship.
James came to Bakersfield with a wide breadth of coaching experience, including spending the 2023-24 season as the Associate Head Coach at Hofstra University. In his year at Hofstra, James helped guide one member of the Pride to the NCAA Championships as heavyweight graduate transfer Keaton Kluever qualified for the first time in his career.
In the four years prior to his arrival at Hofstra, James served his alma mater, Edinboro University, as an Assistant Coach. He helped coach six NCAA qualifiers and 18 Mid-American Conference placewinners. James also played a vital part in the program’s 2020 recruiting class being ranked Top 25 in the nation.
As a student-athlete with the Scots, James was a three-time NCAA Qualifier at heavyweight, compiling a career record of 100-49. He won one EWL and one PSAC championship and he was a four-time conference placewinner. At the time of his graduation, James ranked eighth in Edinboro history in career falls (37).
Following his collegiate career, James also spent time at the Valley Regional Training Center, run out of Fresno State, giving him important insight to the state of wrestling in California.
A native of Medford, N.Y., James holds a degree in HPE-Human Performance from Edinboro University.
