2015 Metropolitan and Mid-Major Coach of the Year Jim Engles became the 23rd head coach in the 116-year history of its men’s basketball program in April 2016.
In 2023-24, the Lions surpassed the previous season’s overall and conference win total for the second straight year. Columbia's 13 wins in 2023-24 were the most under Engles and the most since the 2015-16 CollegeInsider.com Championship season. The Lions also exceeded the previous win total from the past two seasons combined.
Columbia got off to a hot start in 2023-24, winning eight of its first 11 games for the first time since 1978. The Lions blew by the 2022-23 wins total, earning their eighth triumph on Dec. 11 with an 87-83 victory at FDU. Columbia broke off a six-game winning streak in November, which was the program's longest since January 2016. The Lions also had a stretch of seven straight home wins for the first time since 2015-16. Columbia began conference play with nine wins for the first time since 2015-16.
The 2023-24 season saw the Lions drastically improve in several stat categories. Columbia dished out 471 assists, which were the second most in a single season in program history. Engles’ squad led the Ivy League and ranked 19th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage with a 37.5 percent mark and held opponents to a league-low 32.5 percent from beyond the arc. Among conference teams, Columbia ranked second in free throw percentage (73.2 percent), steals per game (7.7), and assists per game (17.4). The Lions finished the season ranked 25th in the country in bench points per game (27.3). Columbia had the 10th-largest year-over-year KenPom rank increase (+145 spots) the week of Feb. 12. The Lions sat at No. 196 in KenPom compared to 2023’s finish at No. 341.
The Lions posted game-highs among Ivy League teams for points in a game (120), field goals made (45), field goal percentage (64.0), rebounds (62), and steals (18). The 18 steals vs. SUNY Delhi on Nov. 15 were a program single-game record.
On Feb. 23 vs. Brown, Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa became the 30th Lion in program history to reach 1,000 career points and 16th to achieve the feat in his first three seasons. He was the third Columbia player to score his 1,000th career point under Engles. Rubio De La Rosa took major strides in his junior season, ranking in the top ten among Ivy League players in scoring, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goals per game, and steals for the second straight season. The Santiago, Dominican Republic native led the conference in free throw percentage for a second straight season as well.
Following a 78-73 win at Temple on Nov. 18, Columbia's record was over .500 for the first time since Feb. 4, 2017. After a 10-point win over Dartmouth on Feb. 16, it was the second time Columbia earned three-straight double-digit victories since November 2014, with the other stretch being November 2023.
Columbia scored at least 100 points twice in 2023-24, which was the first time a Lions team accomplished this feat since 1976-77.
Under Engles in 2022-23, Columbia improved its overall and Ivy League record from the previous season with one of the youngest rosters in the country. The Lions played four first-years over 15 minutes per game and had over 77 percent of their scoring come from underclassmen (first-years and sophomores).
On December 12, in just its 14th game of the season, Columbia eclipsed its win 2021-22 total after taking down Lafayette on the road. In the Lions’ conference opener against Yale on December 31, Columbia took down the Bulldogs 62-60 after Avery Brown and Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa each poured in double figures.
Engles oversaw Rubio De La Rosa take the next step during his sophomore campaign and finish in the top ten among Ivy League players in scoring, rebounding, free throw percentage, steals, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goals made, rebounds, and minutes played.
Columbia hung tough with nearly every opponent they played during the 2018-19 season with 17 of its 27 games being decided by six points or fewer. The Lions knocked off a pair of NCAA Tournament Teams, Iona (at Madison Square Garden) and Yale, and led the Ivy League in steals per game (7.8). Gabe Stefanini and Patrick Tapé emerged as All-Ivy Leaguers. Stefanini paced the Ivy League, averaging 4.1 assists per game, and Tapé was one of the most efficient offensive players in the nation with a .667 field goal percentage.
The Lions boasted one of the top offenses in the Ivy League in 2017-18, leading the conference with 10.0 made 3-pointers per game. Columbia averaged 76.4 points per game, which was also second in the Ancient Eight. Individually, Mike Smith picked up All-Ivy League Second Team and Third Team All-Met accolades after averaging 17.6 points and 4.6 assists per game.
In his tenure, 10 players have gone on to play professionally internationally and in the NBA G League.
In 2016-17, the Lions won Engles’ Columbia debut at Stony Brook, becoming the first non-conference opponent to defeat the Seawolves at Island Federal Credit Union Arena.
Engles returned to Columbia after spending eight years as head coach for the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Over his final six seasons at NJIT, Engles compiled a 100-88 record, including back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2014-15 and 2016-17. Prior to leading the Highlanders, Engles served as an assistant coach at Columbia under former head coach Joe Jones from 2003 to 2008.
NJIT had competed at the Division I level for only two seasons when Engles arrived in 2008, and in three years he turned them into a 15-win program. In 2014-15, he directed the Highlanders to a 21-12 record, including an upset at No. 16 Michigan and a postseason berth, advancing to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
At the conclusion of the 2014-15 season, Engles was named John McLendon National Coach of the Year honors from CollegeInsider.com, received the Peter A. Carlesimo Division I co-Coach of the Year from the Metropolitan Writers Association and was a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year and Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year awards.
In 2015-16, Engles once again led the Highlanders to the semifinals of the CIT, where they faced the eventual champions, Columbia, at Levien Gym. His team also finished tied for second place in the America Sun Conference in its first year in the league.
In addition to the tremendous success over the past two years, Engles won a Great West regular season championship and was selected the Great West Conference Coach of the Year in 2012-13. In 2010-11, he picked up a vote for AP National Coach of the Year after NJIT posted a 15-15 record.
The success of Engles’ Highlanders squads culminated with NJIT committing to build a new $100 million Wellness and Events Center and receiving an invitation to join the Atlantic Sun Conference after spending two years without any conference affiliation.
In his first stint with the Lions, Engles helped Joe Jones turn around the Columbia program from a last-place finish in The Ivy League, into a consistent competitor in non-conference and league play, including the first .500 finish in league play since 1992-93.
Prior to joining Columbia as an assistant in 2003, Engles spent the previous six seasons at Rider University, where he was the top assistant coach for the Broncs under Don Harnum, as well as their recruiting coordinator. Rider’s basketball program enjoyed great success with Engles on staff, including winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title during the 2001-02 season and making the school’s first appearance in the postseason NIT in 1998.
Before joining Rider, Engles spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Wagner College. He assisted Tim Capstraw in guiding the Seahawks to the best winning-percentage turnaround in Division I basketball, going from four wins in 1991-92 to 16 in 1992-93. Wagner also recorded the most Division I wins in school history during that time, and competed against Rider for the Northeast Conference Championship in 1993 on national television.
A Staten Island native, from St. Peter’s High School, Engles played college basketball for Dickinson College, where he was a three-year letterwinner. He helped lead the Red Devils to the second-most single-season victories in school history at the time during the 1989-90 season. After graduating from Dickinson in 1990 with a B.A. in political science, he earned his M.B.A. from Wagner College in 1997.
His grandfather, Ken Engles, was a player and coach at Georgetown University, while his uncle, John Engles, was a high school All-American who went on to play at Penn under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly.
