Alex Mumphard enters his second season as Assistant Coach for the Pioneers in 2024-25.
AT DENVER:
2023-24 Season
Denver continued to trend up, earning two more wins than the previous season to get to 17-17, all while making a deep March run to the program’s first Summit League Championship Game. The 17 victories were the most by the program since going 22-10 in the 2012-13 Western Athletic Conference regular season championship campaign.
Denver’s March spurt began with an upset of Kansas City in the 7/2 quarterfinal. Isaiah Addo-Ankrah hit a triple with six seconds left and Pedro Lopez Sanvicente delivered the game-saving block as time expired to lead Denver to a 61-60 victory.
A couple of days later, Denver held on to a free-throw shooting contest down the stretch to earn a 66-63 win over sixth-seeded Omaha to reach the program’s first conference final overall since the Sun Belt Conference days of 2005.
Tommy Bruner, who became the first Summit League First Team selection since Joe Rosga in 2018, led the nation in scoring for a majority of the season before finishing second overall with 24.0 points per game. In addition to his postseason Summit League honor, Bruner was a five-time Summit League Peak Performer of the Week and a three-time Summit League Male Athlete of the Month. At the regional level, Bruner earned NABC First Team All-District 12 honors, and was named to both the Oscar Robertson Trophy and All-America Watch List, and the Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List.
Denver broke a couple of losing streaks against Summit League opposition in the campaign, sweeping NDSU in the regular season for the first time since 2018 and defeating South Dakota State for the first time since January of 2017 (11 games).
The Pioneers excelled on the offensive end, averaging 81.0 points per game, which ranked in the top-30 nationally. Denver recorded 16 80+ points games, the program’s most since 1996-97. Denver also had 10 90+ point games (top-10 nationally) while scoring 99 in its South Dakota State win on January 13, Denver’s most in a regulation game against a DI opponent since February 10, 2001 against North Texas.
BEFORE DENVER:
Mumphard joined head coach Jeff Wulbrun's staff after spending the previous five seasons at Cornell in the same role.
While with the Big Red, Mumphard has a key member of Brian Earl's staff and joined in June 2018 after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Greenville University, and the previous two years as a graduate assistant coach at Northwestern.
In his first season, Mumphard helped the Big Red to a three-game improvement overall, the program's first .500 conference season in nine years and a postseason appearance with its first-ever bid to the CIT Tournament. He helped mentor All-Ivy League first-team selection Matt Morgan, who graduated as the No. 2 all-time scorer in conference history with more than 2,300 points. Mumphard's work with Terrance McBride helped him earn All-Ivy honors in 2020 as part of a breakout season. The 2020-21 campaign was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite being picked seventh in the preseason Ivy League media poll, the Big Red earned the program's second conference tournament bid and posted a 15-11 final record. Four different players earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors and senior guard Dean Noll earned second team All-Ivy honors. Cornell ranked No. 1 in the country in adjusted pace in terms of shortest average possession time in Division I during the non-conference season and finished the campaign seventh nationally in assists per game (17.3), 17th in scoring offense (79.2 ppg.) and led the Ancient Eight in defensive rebounds (27.96) and steals (7.9) per game.
Despite the loss of four starters, the 2022-23 team made its second straight conference tournament appearance and posted 17 wins - the most by a Big Red team in 13 years. Cornell opened the season 14-4 with a two-point loss at eventual ACC champion and Final Four participant Miami (Fla.). The Big Red led the Ivy League in 11 categories, including scoring offense (81.7), 3-pointers made (10.7) and attempted (30.4) per game, assists (17.5), assist:turnover ratio (1.41), steals (9.7), effective field goal percentage (.556) and fast break points (15.9). Greg Dolan earned second-team All-Ivy and NABC All-Region honors, while Nazir Williams was an honorable mention pick.
Prior to Cornell, Mumphard spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Northwestern under head coach Chris Collins. During his time in Evanston, Ill., the Wildcats made the program's first NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round in 2017. He played a role in the development of All-Big Ten players Bryant McIntosh, the school's career assist leader, and Scottie Lindsey. In addition to his work on the court, he coordinated opponent scouts and film breakdown and opponent exchange and was a liaison between the staff and players. In his first season, Northwestern posted its first winning conference season in 49 years and set a school record for wins in a season. Northwestern also garnered its first Top 25 ranking in seven years. Mumphard earned a Masters in Sports Administration in addition to his coaching, graduating in 2018.
He began his coaching career at his alma mater under the direction of Dr. George Barber. In his second year on the sidelines, Greenville won a conference title with a 12-6 mark in the St Louis intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC). He coordinated recruiting, was responsible for scheduling, travel and scouting and led individual workouts and in-season weight training. Mumphard also coached the junior varsity team. During his stay, the program earned its first NCCAA Top 25 ranking.
