Coaches
James Miller, Head Coach Email >>
James Miller was introduced as the new men’s basketball coach at New Mexico Junior College in August of 2012.
Miller served as Assistant Coach at NMJC for the past three seasons. The Thunderbirds finished tied for second in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference this past season and lost to South Plains College the eventual national champions in the second round of the Region 5 tournament.
Miller is extremely excited about the opportunity to lead the men’s basketball program. “ NMJC has become one of the better programs in the country over the course of the past three years and we will work hard to make sure that our student-athletes represent the college at the highest level both on and off the court.”
Before NMJC, Miller a native of Colorado served as an assistant under Coach Pat Eberhart for four years at Colorado State University-Pueblo. Before CSU-Pueblo he served as an intern at Arizona State University in the men’s basketball program and also as a manager at Colorado State University. Miller graduated from the Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science, with a focus in health promotion and coaching. After obtaining his bachelor degree Miller went on to obtain his Master of Science Degree with an emphasis in Sports Administration from the University of Northern Colorado. Miller replaces Coach Chris Tifft who accepted a coaching position at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth,TX. Miller and his wife Darlene reside in Hobbs and were married in the summer of 2012.
Brian Lohrey, Assistant Coach Email >>
Brian Lohrey is entering his first season with New Mexico Junior College as an Assistant Coach. Brian is coming to NMJC from the University of Central Missouri where he served in the same capacity.
During his tenure at Central Missouri the Mules were a combined 64-23 while capturing the 2010 and 2012 MIAA Conference Championship. In 2010 the Mules also advanced to the NCAA Div. II Sweet Sixteen. At Central Missouri he had the opportunity to work for Kim Anderson who is the All-Time Winningnest Coach in School history. While there he coached one 1st Team All-American, Two MIAA 1st Team All-Conference and All-Region players, three MIAA 2nd Team All-Conference players, a MIAA Defensive Player of the year, a MIAA 1st Team All-Defensive team player, and two MIAA Honorable Mention All-Conference players.
Preceding his time at Central Missouri Brian was also an Assistant at Dallas Baptist University where he worked for Blake Flickner and had a hand in nearly every aspect of the program, including recruiting. He helped sign two Conference Freshman of the Year winners in his first two seasons, and helped the Patriots to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history in 2009. They advanced to the South Central Regional semifinal which was being hosted by Central Missouri. During that season his squad ranked No. 3 in the NCAA at any level with a three-point field goal percentage of 42.9%. The squad had four All-Heartland Conference selections as well. He was also an adjunct professor at DBU, teaching kinesiology and foundations courses.
CPrior to his coaching career at DBU, he also played one season for the Patriots during graduate school. He was recognized with the Patriot award as a recognized leader of men’s athletics, as well as an NCCAA Academic All-American.
Before his time there, he attended Colorado State University where he earned the Leadership Award while playing for the Mountain West Conference Champion and NCAA Tournament basketball team in 2003. He was also the vice president of Athletes in Action for the CSU campus.
He has helped coach at several summer camps, including Marquette University and the University of Texas. Lohrey has also done internships with Athletes in Action training camps, and with the Crossover Ministry, coaching camps in Germany and the Czech Republic.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Applied Human Science from Colorado State in 2005, and his masters in Arts and Christian Education from Dallas Baptist in 2007.
Brian is accompanied to Hobbs with his wife Lyndsey and their son, Malachi (3).