Jareem Dowling - Men's Basketball Coach - University of North Texas Athletics

Photo by: Colin Mitchell

Jareem Dowling

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Jareem.Dowling@unt.edu
Phone:
940-565-3448

Jareem Dowling completed his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Mean Green men's basketball team in 2021-22 by helping guide UNT to its third straight Conference USA championship, the first time in program history the Mean Green have won a conference title in three consecutive seasons.

In his five full seasons at UNT, he's helped lead the Mean Green to three conference championships, 104 total wins, the program's first NCAA Tournament win and first NIT win, a 2018 CBI championship, the most wins in a single season in program history and twice setting the school record for most conference wins in a season,

After the 2019-20 season, North Texas head coach Grant McCasland and the staff were voted C-USA Coach of the Year. Dowling was named one of the top 2020 Mid-Major Division I assistant coaches by Minority Coaches Association.

Over the last three years, North Texas has an average NET ranking of 62.6, which is the 56th highest in the nation and the highest in C-USA.

Dowling, who also serves as a key coach for the U.S. Virgin Islands National Team, has been a crucial recruiter for North Texas, identifying and bringing in players such as 2020 C-USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year and overall C-USA Male Student-Athlete of the Year Javion Hamlet. He's also recruited the program's single season scoring record holder Roosevelt Smart.

In 2021-22, Dowling helped guide the Mean Green to a 25-7 overall record. The 25 wins were a single-season program record surpassing the 24 wins totaled by the 2009-10 team. UNT in 2021-22 won a program record 15 straight games from early January until early March. They won the C-USA West Division with a league overall best record of 16-2. The 16 wins surpassed the 2019-20 record-setting 14 league wins.

UNT fell in the semifinals of the 2022 C-USA Tournament but with the best overall league record earned an automatic bid into the 2022 NIT, which was the program's first trip to the NIT. In the first round the No. 2 seed Mean Green beat Texas State 67-63 in overtime for the program's first ever NIT victory. They'd fall however in the second round to Virginia 71-69 (ot).

North Texas ended the season with a nation's best scoring defense (55.7 ppg). It was also the best scoring defense in Conference USA history.

The tremendous 2021-22 season came on the heels of arguably the most successful season in program history.

In 2020-21, North Texas overcame the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to make history.

UNT won its first NCAA Tournament game in program-history with a 78-69 (ot) win over Purdue on March 19, 2021. It was the program's fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and its first since 2010. They earned their highest ever seeding in a NCAA Tournament (13) and their victory over the nationally ranked Boilermakers (No. 20) was their first AP Top 25 win since 1972. They earned the bid into the NCAA Tournament after grabbing the 2021 C-USA Tournament championship. The Mean Green won four games in four days to win their first league tournament title in 11 years and their first since joining C-USA. In the championship game they beat WKU 61-57 (ot) on March 13, 2021.

Hamlet was named the tournament MVP after averaging 18.5 ppg, 7.3 apg and 6.5 rpg over the four-game tournament. Hamlet's 29 total assists in the tournament were a C-USA Tournament record. Along with Hamlet, Simmons was voted to the all-tournament team.

Hamlet was also voted first team all-conference and NABC First Team All-District after the regular season. Freshman Rubin Jones was voted to the league's all-freshman team. Jones was the second UNT freshman since Dowling's arrival to earn those honors.

In 2019-20, the Mean Green went a program-best 14-4 in conference. The Mean Green earned the No. 1 seed in the 2020 C-USA Tournament but had the season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2019-20 season, the Mean Green ranked in the top 25 in the nation in both overall field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. They were just one of four teams who could claim that. They beat Western Kentucky on March 1, 78-72 (OT), to win the regular season crown. It ended an 11-game skid to the Hilltoppers.

When Dowling and the staff joined UNT in 2017-18, they took over a program that had won eight games the season prior. North Texas not only had one of the nation's best turnarounds in their first year, they also won the College Basketball Invitational Tournament. It was UNT's first NCAA National Tournament championship. The success carried over into year two as the Mean Green began the 2018-19 season 16-1. They were the first team in the nation to 16 wins and the 16-1 start was the program's best start ever.

Dowling has 14 years of collegiate coaching experience and has been on the bench alongside McCasland for now five years. Prior to North Texas, he spent a year as an assistant coach with McCasland at Arkansas State for the 2016-17 season where they went 20-12 overall and 11-7 in the Sun Belt Conference.

Before ASU, Dowling served as the head coach of the Scotland Performance Institute, a prep school in Scotland, Pennsylvania. While with SPI, Dowling developed several players that went on to earn college scholarships, including three that signed with Division I programs.

Prior to SPI, Dowling spent three seasons at Southern Miss as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He helped the Golden Eagles post a three-year record of 65-37 (.637), while earning a pair of postseason berths. Three players during that span garnered All-Conference USA honors.

In 2013-14, Southern Miss posted a school record 29 wins, claimed a share of the C-USA regular-season championship, posted a perfect 15-0 record at home and made its second straight trip to the NIT Quarterfinals. The 2012-13 campaign saw Southern Miss post a 27-10 record and capture its first postseason victories since 1988, as Southern Miss made a trip to the NIT Quarterfinals.

Dowling moved to Southern Miss after spending one season at Morehead State. In his lone season with the Eagles, Dowling assisted with all aspects of the program, including recruiting, practice/game preparation and player development. He was also responsible for monitoring the academic progress of all student-athletes in the program.

He joined Morehead State's staff after three seasons in a similar capacity at Slippery Rock. Dowling helped the Rock to three consecutive winning seasons, including 21-win campaigns in 2008-09 and 2010-11.

Prior to Slippery Rock, Dowling was an assistant to legendary junior college coach Bill Lewit at Cecil College. Dowling's recruiting and scouting contributed to a 97-6 overall record in three seasons from 2005-08.

Cecil won three Maryland state regular-season championships, three state tournament titles, two regional championships, two Holiday Tournament championships and the 2006 NJCAA Division II national championship during Dowling's tenure. The Seahawks also finished the season ranked No. 1 in the nation in each those three years.

Originally from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dowling moved to Wilmington, Del., during his high school years. He led Howard High School to the Blue Hen Flight B championship game and the state's final four as a senior. Dowling earned honorable mention all-state and first team all-conference honors that season, also securing a spot in the Delaware State Blue and Gold All-Star Game.

Dowling was a two-year starter at Cecil, leading the team to the 2000-01 Maryland JUCO regular-season championship. He earned all-tournament honors in addition to receiving the team's Hustle and Defense Awards. After an injury in 2001-02, Dowling led the Seahawks to the Region XX Championship and the NJCAA Division II Final Four in 2002-03. His two-year record at Cecil was 51-11 and he played with nine eventual Division I players.

Dowling then transferred to Maryland Eastern Shore, where he was a two-year starter. He scored a career-high 22 points, including five three-pointers, against Baylor. He earned his degree in sociology from UMES in 2005.

He also boasts multiple years of high-level international coaching experience, dating back to 2007, when he worked for Virgin Islands Basketball Federation (VIBF) at the junior level. During his seven years with the VIBF, he led Virgin Islands national teams to two silver medals and a pair of bronze medals.

Dowling served as head coach of the U.S. Virgin Islands U17 Junior National Team in 2008 and led that squad to a silver-medal finish at the Caribbean Basketball Championship in Antiqua and Barbuda.

His Virgin Islands national squads have participated in FIBA events in Puerto Rico, the United States, Antigua, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Singapore and Brazil - giving Dowling beneficial basketball contacts around the globe.

Dowling earned his bachelor's degree in Sociology from UMES in 2005, and he received a master's degree in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

Dowling is married to Cierra Dowling and has a daughter, Laiya Croix Dowling.