Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins embraces family roots ahead of Illinois State exhibition

By Henry Frieman, NUSports.com

NORMAL, Ill. — Northwestern’s season-opening exhibition at Illinois State on Sunday is more than just a scrimmage for Sullivan-Ubben Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Collins.

The trip down to Normal, Ill., celebrates his family’s basketball history. The Wildcats will kick off their season on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, named in honor of Chris Collins’ father, Doug, a legendary player for Illinois State and a former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick. The Collins family has close ties to the Bloomington-Normal community and the Illinois State athletic program.

“You get to a certain age in your life, you want to enjoy things, you want to have special memories,” Chris Collins said. That’s why when (Illinois State Head Coach) Ryan (Pedon) and I talked, it made all the sense in the world to be able to bring my family and my team (to Illinois State).”

Doug Collins, playing before the three-point line was invented, averaged 29.4 points per game during his two-year Illinois State career. In 1973, he became the first and only first-team All-American in Illinois State program history. He was drafted No. 1 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1973, leading them to an NBA Finals berth in 1976, and helped the United States win a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in 1972.

Doug Collins was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024 for his contributions to the sport. He is one of, if not the most, decorated athletes in Illinois State history.

“This is a tip of our cap to the Collins family, to our past, to Doug, to the impact that he’s had here,” Pedon said.

Doug Collins Court was dedicated in 2007, and a statue of Doug Collins with his head coach, Will Robinson, stands outside of CEFCU Arena. The Collins family has remained in close contact with the Bloomington-Normal community.

“In the summers, when my dad was in the offseason, we would spend a lot of time in Bloomington,” Chris Collins said. “(I have) really good memories of hanging in the community and all the friendships … it was kind of like a second home for us when I was growing up.”`    

After his playing career, Doug Collins spent four decades as an NBA head coach, most notably with the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons. He coached star players including Michael Jordan, Grant Hill and Charles Oakley.

His son, Chris — a sharpshooter in his own right who excelled at Glenbrook North High School before four strong seasons at Duke — eagerly followed in his father’s footsteps, absorbing everything he could about coaching basketball.

“When I was a kid, there was nothing more special to me than just tagging along (with Doug),” Chris Collins said. “I have vivid memories of when he was a player … and certainly, in my formative years, being in middle school, when he was coaching in Chicago, and being old enough to really understand my love for the game. I learned so much every day being a ball boy and really observing, watching him coach, watching Michael (Jordan) and those guys, the way they attacked practices.”

The Collins family embodies Northwestern men’s basketball. Chris Collins is entering his 14th season at the helm of the Wildcats, making him the third-longest-tenured active coach in the Big Ten. His son, Ryan, served as a manager for NU when he was a student. Doug Collins is an important figure within the Northwestern basketball program as well. Players and coaches alike lean on him as a mentor, friend and supporter.

Meanwhile, the new-look Wildcats will see this year’s squad for the first time on Sunday. Eleven new players will don purple and white on Doug Collins Court, a mixture of youth and veteran transfers that Chris Collins is excited about.

While the game will not count toward official records, it still holds plenty of meaning. It’s an opportunity to see Northwestern play together for the first time and a chance for the players to experience a game-like road atmosphere ahead of the start of the regular season, which begins Nov. 2 against Binghamton at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“You want to have these exhibition games, the opportunity to go out and learn. Of course we’re going to compete and try to win,” Chris Collins said. “My guys haven’t played against anybody yet. This is our first opportunity — we have 11 new players, there’s so much I don’t know about my team that I’m anxious to see come Sunday, against a team that is really good, and really well-coached and disciplined, that will make us pay for our mistakes. Altogether, it’s going to be a great experience for us.”

It’s going to be a special exhibition for Chris Collins, who took the moment to reflect on his journey through college basketball during a pregame press conference on Friday. It will be a full-circle moment for the Collins family when they head down to Illinois State on Sunday.

“To be in this league, to be back in Chicago where I grew up, to have the opportunity now to come back to Illinois State, to have my dad there on a court that’s named after him with a statue in front of the arena, all those things, I could have never predicted for my journey," Chris Collins said. “I’m so glad it was able to work out.”