Honors & Accomplishments

• Has led the Big Red to three Ivy League Tournament appearances (2018, 2022, 2023).
• Guided Cornell to its first postseason appearance since 2010 when they qualified for the 2019 CIT Postseason Tournament.
• Coached a pair of 1,000-point backcourt scorers.
• Helped develop eight All-Ivy League and two CoSIDA Academic All-America selections in his first six seasons.
 

Coaching Experience

• Head Coach, Cornell University (2016-present)
• Assistant & Associate Head Coach, Princeton University (2007-16)
 

Playing Experience

• Princeton University (1995-99)
          • 1999 Ivy League Player of the Year
          • Scored 1,428 career points
          • Played in 95 wins, an Ivy League record.
• Atlantic City Seagulls (USBL) - 1999
• Harrisburg Horizon (EBA) - 2000
• Manchester Giants (England) 2001
• ETB Wohnbau Baskets Essen (Germany) 2001
 

Education

• B.S., Economics, Princeton (1999)
 

At Cornell

After six seasons at the helm of the Cornell men's basketball program, it is apparent that Brian Earl has the Big Red pointed in the right direction. 

Earl was named the Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Basketball by Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education on April 18, 2016. He became the 22nd head coach in school history and has been lifting the Big Red up ever since.

Earl knows what is required to win in the Ivy League, having played for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Pete Carill and the Ivy League's all-time winningest coach by percentage, Bill Carmody. He was part of an Ivy League record 95 wins as a player, along with four postseason bids and three NCAA tournament appearances. He coached alongside Sydney Johnson and Mitch Henderson, two mentors who combined to go 162-106 (.604) with five postseason trips with Earl on the sidelines.

He put his stamp on the program right away, making the offense more efficient, lowering opponent scoring average and cutting down on Big Red turnovers in his first season. Matt Morgan was a second-team All-Ivy League pick after leading the conference in scoring for a second straight year while boosting his overall and 3-point field goal shooting percentages. He also worked with Robert Hatter, helping the senior graduate as one of the school’s top 10 career scorers, and was instrumental in the development of Gettings, arguably the most improved player in the Ancient Eight. Among its victories was one over a Northeastern team that earned road wins at Connecticut and Michigan State.

In his second season, the Big Red earned a spot in its first Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament while posting a four-game overall improvement and a two-game upswing in Ancient Eight play. Cornell picked itself up after an 0-3 league start to finish 6-5 (with three losses coming by three points or less or in overtime), including a thrilling, triple-overtime 107-101 win over defending league champion Princeton at home. In all, Cornell went 8-4 at Newman Arena, its best home mark since the 2011-12 campaign (10-3). Led by Matt Morgan, a first-team All-Ivy pick, the Big Red posted one of the most efficient offensive seasons in school history and was named to the Lou Henson All-America team. Stone Gettings ranked sixth in the Ivy League in scoring, capturing second-team all-league and third-team Academic All-America accolades. The duo combined for seven 30-point games during the season.

The 2019 team earned a spot in the CIT, the Big Red's first trip to a postseason tournament since the 2010 NCAA. Cornell finished .500 in conference play for the first time in nine years, finishing tied for fourth in the league standings with All-Ivy first teamer Matt Morgan jumping to No. 2 on the conference's all-time scoring list. He closed his career with more than 2,300 points and led the Ivy League in scoring all four years. Cornell owned a win over defending Ivy champ Penn, a sweep of 2019 league champion Harvard, as well as a 21-game winner NJIT on the road.

On first glance, 2019-20 might look like a step back. But when you look closer, you see a program on the precipice of competing with anyone at the top of the Ivy League. Despite missing leading scorer and second-team Academic All-American Jimmy Boeheim for a quarter of the season and adjusting to the loss of staples Morgan and Steven Julian to graduation, the Big Red tied for sixth in the Ancient Eight. Cornell lost three games by a single point, five by a single possession, six by four points or less and eight by single digits in a season of near misses. The Big Red shot 45 percent from the floor and 37 percent from 3-point range in conference play, swept Princeton and took conference champion Yale to double overtime. Terrance McBride joined Boeheim in having a breakout season, garnering honorable mention All-Ivy honors. 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. While the focus was on the offense, including a school-record 122 points vs. Keuka and 107 more against Wells, Cornell was also second in the conference in field goal percentage defense (.430).

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.), a buzzer-beating defeat at Boston College, a two-possession defeat to eventual Sweet 16 participant Princeton, and to perennial national contender Syracuse. 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 fastbreak points (15.9), while ranking in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, assists, bench points, fastbreak points, steals and 3-pointers made and attempted. Greg Dolan earned second-team All-Ivy and NABC All-Region honors, while Nazir Williams was an honorable mention pick.
 

Prior to Cornell

Earl coached the previous nine seasons at Princeton as assistant and associate head coach. His efforts were instrumental in turning around a program that won just two Ivy League games the year before he joined the staff, helping lift his alma mater back atop the league standings. Princeton increased its win total in each of his first four seasons on the sidelines while improving from six wins in 2007-08 to 25 victories in 2010-11. The 2010-11 team won the program's first Ivy League title in seven seasons, ending the longest stretch without an Ivy title in program history. Since the 2009-10 campaign, when Princeton finished second to a Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, the Tigers had posted a 143-69 overall record and a 72-26 record in Ancient Eight games, never finishing lower than third place and winning 20 or more games five times.

Assisting a pair of former teammates in Sydney Johnson (2007-11) and Mitch Henderson (2011-16), Earl had responsibilities in nearly every aspect of the Tigers’ program including skill development and strategy, opponent scouting, and recruiting. His Ivy League peers voted him as the league’s top assistant coach in a November 2010 FoxSports.com poll, earning the recognition prior to a 2011 season in which Princeton won the Ivy League title and returned to the NCAA Tournament.

Earl coordinated Princeton’s defensive strategy his last four seasons there, helping the Tigers lead the Ancient Eight in scoring defense in 2012-13 (58.4 ppg.). Princeton also led the nation in scoring defense in 2009-10. Thanks to those efforts, the Tigers were invited to the postseason five times in Earl’s nine seasons, earning an NCAA bid in 2011, receiving an invitation to the NIT in 2016 and competing in the College Basketball Invitational in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Sixteen players earned All-Ivy League honors during Earl’s tenure, with Ian Hummer (2013) becoming the first Princeton player since Earl himself in 1999 to be voted Ivy League Player of the Year. Earl helped recruit two of the top three scorers in Princeton history in Hummer (1,625 points) and Douglas Davis (1,550 points). Davis hit one of the most recognized shots in program history, as his last-second jumper earned the Tigers an Ivy League playoff win over Harvard in 2011, sending Princeton to its first NCAA appearance since 2004. Facing eventual Final Four participant Kentucky in the first round, Princeton lost a 59-57 heartbreaker that was decided by a Kentucky basket at the final buzzer.

After joining the Princeton coaching staff, Earl and the Tigers won four postseason games, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2012 and 2014 CBI and the semifinals of the 2010 CBI. Its losses in the 2011 NCAA tournament and 2016 NIT games were by a total of six points with one of the losses coming in overtime.

Post-Playing Career

Earl continued his playing career after graduating from Princeton with a degree in Economics in 1999, suiting up in the United States Basketball League, the Eastern Basketball Alliance and heading overseas for opportunities in Germany and England from 1999-2002.

After hanging up the jersey, Earl spent four years working for Sallie Mae as an account executive before former teammate Sydney Johnson asked him to join Johnson’s first staff at their alma mater.

Playing Career

Earl is widely considered one of the top players and fiercest competitors in Ivy League basketball history. The 1999 Ivy League Player of the Year, he graduated with an Ivy League-record 281 3-pointers, a mark that stood until Cornell’s Ryan Wittman ’10 surpassed him in 2010, and closed his career ranked fifth all-time at Princeton with 1,428 points. He also finished sixth on the school list with 263 assists and seventh with 140 steals. He averaged 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 48 percent from the floor and 42 percent from 3-point range over his four-year career. His 95 wins in four seasons is a mark that remains an Ivy League record.

His accolades came as part of the team’s great success, as all four teams he played on earned postseason bids – three to the NCAA Tournament and one to the NIT. The Tigers won at least one game in three of those four years, including the famous upset of UCLA in the 1996 tournament and a first-round win over UNLV in the 1998 tournament as the East Region’s No. 5 seed. The 1997-98 team compiled a record of 27-2 and finished the season ranked No. 8 nationally. In 1999, Princeton won twice in the NIT, including the final game at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum, to reach the quarterfinals.
 

Personal

Earl's winning pedigree comes from a strong basketball family. His father, Denny, was a starting forward for Rutgers where he played under head coach Bill Foster and alongside the late Jim Valvano. His brother Dan played at Penn State and is the head coach at Chattanooga. Brian and Dan Earl are one of five active sets of brothers directing Division I programs, joining Scott (Baylor) and Bryce (Grand Canyon) Drew; Bobby (Arizona State) and Danny (UConn) Hurley; Joe (Yale) and James (Boston University) Jones; and Sean (Xavier) and Archie (Rhode Island) Miller.

Earl and his wife Jennifer have three sons, Dylan, Owen and Cooper and reside in Ithaca.
 

Year	W	L	Ivy Record	Ivy Finish	LINKS	Captains
2016-17	8	21	4-10	t-6th	Stats - PDF/Enhanced I Results I Roster	Game Captains
2017-18	12	16	6-8	t-4th	Stats - PDF/Enhanced I Results I Roster	Kyle Brown, Stone Gettings, Matt Morgan
2018-19	15	16	7-7	t-4th	Stats - PDF/Enhanced I Results I Roster	Jack Gordon, Steven Julian, Matt Morgan
2019-20	7	20	4-10	t-6th	Stats - PDF/Enhanced I Results I Roster	Jimmy Boeheim, Terrance McBride, Josh Warren
2020-21	--	--	--	--	Season canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic	No captains
2021-22	15	11	7-7	4th	Stats - PDF/Enhanced I Results I Roster	Kobe Dickson, Greg Dolan, Sarju Patel
2022-23	17	11	7-7	t-4th	Stats - PDF/Enhanced I Results I Roster	Greg Dolan, Marcus Filien, Sean Hansen
TOTALS	74	95	35-49

* Updated May 2023