Brian Earl was named the 32nd head coach of William & Mary men’s basketball on March 23, 2024.
The 1999 Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton, Earl joined W&M after spending the previous seven seasons as the head coach at Cornell, where he led the Big Red to numerous offensive milestones and its first-ever NIT bid in 2024.
In his first season in Williamsburg, Earl was named a finalist for the 2024-25 Hugh Durham Award by CollegeInsider.com, which is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball. He led W&M one of the top turnarounds in the country, a 7.5-game improvement, to finish with 17 wins. The 17 wins were the 12th most in program history.
In CAA play, Earl led the Tribe to a double bye in the CAA Championship for the first time in school history. W&M posted an 11-7 record which was a seven-game improvement from the previous season and ranked eighth in the country.
The Tribe won its first 12 home games under Earl, including victories over MEAC Champion Norfolk State, A-10 foe and rival Richmond, and two-time defending CAA Champion Charleston. It marked the longest single-season home court winning streak in Kaplan Arena history and the third-longest single-season streak in school history and longest since 1951.
Earl introduced an exciting style of play in Williamsburg. The Tribe was one of the fastest paced teams in the country in 2024-25, ranking among the top 20 nationally in fastest average length of possession on offense (third), adjusted tempo (18th) and fastbreak points per game (16th). W&M ranked among the best teams in the country in terms of 3-point shooting, ranking fifth in 3-pointers attempted per game (30.0) and 15th in 3-pointers made per game (10.5). The Tribe’s 336 made 3-pointers in 2024-25 rank second in school history and are the sixth most in CAA history. Nationally, W&M also ranked eighth in bench scoring (31.9) and 25th in assists (16.5).
In 2023-24, Earl led the Big Red to 22 wins, tied for second-most in school history, and Cornell’s first-ever bid to the NIT. The team ranked 17th in the nation in scoring offense (82.1 points per game), eighth in assists per game (17.9) and 10th in 3-pointers made per game (10.3). The Big Red finished the regular season with an RPI of 49. For his efforts, Earl was named the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) District 13 Coach of the Year.
Earl and the Big Red compiled a record 31-5 in home games over the past three seasons, including a perfect 15-0 non-conference mark.
Earl’s 2022-23 team posted 17 wins and led the Ivy League in 11 categories while ranking in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, assists, bench points, fast break points, steals and 3-pointers made and attempted.
In his seven seasons in Ithaca, Earl led the Big Red to four Ivy League Tournament appearances (top four earn a tournament berth). Additionally, Cornell qualified for the post season in two of the last five seasons. Along with the 2024 NIT, the Big Red appeared in the CIT in 2019, returning to the post season for the first time since reaching the Sweet 16 in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Earl entered the coaching profession in 2007 after four years as an account executive at Sallie Mae. Former teammate Sydney Johnson asked him to join his staff at their alma mater. He served as an assistant and associate head coach at Princeton over nine seasons, during which the Tigers posted a 143-69 overall record and a 72-26 record in Ivy League play, winning 20 or more games five times.
During his playing career at Princeton, Earl set the Ivy League record of 281 3-pointers and won 95 games in four seasons, a mark that remains an Ivy League record. The Tigers earned a postseason bid in each of his four seasons, including a win over UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament and a victory over UNLV in the 1998 tournament as the East Region’s No. 5 seed.
Earl graduated from Princeton with a degree in economics in 1999. Deciding he wasn’t finished with playing, he continued his career in the United States Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Alliance, then played in Germany and England from 1999-2002.
Earl comes from a strong basketball family. His father, Denny, was a starting forward for Rutgers where he played with the late Jim Valvano. His brother Dan played at Penn State and is the head coach at Chattanooga. Earl and his brother are one of five active sets of brothers directing Division I programs, joining Bryce and Scott Drew, Bobby and Danny Hurley, Joe and James Jones and Archie and Sean Miller.
Earl and his wife Jennifer have three sons, Dylan, Owen, and Cooper.
Career Record as a Head Coach
| William & Mary |
| Year |
Overall Record |
Winning % |
League Record |
Winning % |
Finish |
Other |
| 2024-25 |
17-15 |
.531 |
11-7 |
.611 |
4th |
CAA Quarterfinals |
| Career at W&M |
17-15 |
.531 |
11-7 |
.611 |
|
|
| Cornell |
| Year |
Overall Record |
Winning % |
League Record |
Winning % |
Finish |
Other |
| 2023-24 |
22-8 |
.733 |
11-3 |
.786 |
t-2nd |
Ivy League Semifinals / NIT |
| 2022-23 |
17-11 |
.607 |
7-7 |
.500 |
t-4th |
Ivy League Semifinals |
| 2021-22 |
15-11 |
.577 |
7-7 |
.500 |
4th |
Ivy League Semifinals |
| 2020-21 |
Season canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2019-20 |
7-20 |
.259 |
4-10 |
.286 |
t-6th |
|
| 2018-19 |
15-16 |
.484 |
7-7 |
.500 |
t-4th |
CIT |
| 2017-18 |
12-16 |
.429 |
6-8 |
.429 |
t-4th |
Ivy League Semifinals |
| 2016-17 |
8-21 |
.275 |
7-7 |
.500 |
t-6th |
|
| Career at Cornell |
96-103 |
.482 |
46-52 |
.469 |
|
|
| Career |
111-118 |
.485 |
57-59 |
.491 |
|
|
