John Krikorian (born September 14, 1974) is an American basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach for the Christopher Newport University in NCAA Division III and previously spent six years as an assistant at the Division I level. He has led CNU to the program's only three NCAA Division III Final Four appearances and the 2023 NCAA National Championship.

Krikorian is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA men's basketball history at any level. Through 2022–23, his 76.8% winning percentage is the best in the nation among active NCAA Division III coaches with at least 10 years at the helm and second in NCAA Division III history. He ranks 22nd in NCAA history regardless of classification, ahead of Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (76.6%) and Kentucky's John Calipari (76.3%).^[1]

Playing career

Krikorian played on the junior varsity (JV) basketball team at the University of Pennsylvania, coached by Steve Donahue, who later became head coach at Cornell then Boston College. Krikorian played as a sophomore and junior on Penn's JV squad, and then became a student assistant at Penn during his senior season, his first taste of coaching. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering in 1996.^[2]

Coaching career

Krikorian was named men’s basketball coach at Christopher Newport University on June 14, 2010. He is just the fourth head coach in program history, and has led the Captains to amazing success, including its first three Final Four appearances and the 2023 NCAA Championship. His Captains squad advanced to the Final Four in 2016, 2019 and 2023. In his 12 seasons at the helm, Krikorian has led the Captains to nine NCAA Tournaments, including the last seven years. Krikorian has continued the program’s remarkable history since taking over from longtime coach and Athletic Director C.J. Woollum, who led the program for 26 seasons. His overall record at CNU is 290-65 (.817) through 12 seasons.

Krikorian was named the inaugural Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after being honored as the Capital Athletic Conference’s Coach of the Year the last five years of its existence. Krikorian’s teams at CNU won at least 18 games and advanced to the conference championship game every year since joining the league.

In 2022, Christopher Newport posted a 27-3 record and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Tournament. CNU won 24 straight games from late November until mid-March, the second longest winning streak in school history.

In 2020, the Captains finished 23-6 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament by recording victories over Colby and Nichols at Steven Institute of Technology in New Jersey. The Captains were scheduled to host Hobart in the NCAA’s before the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus. Christopher Newport was ranked 17th in the country in the final national poll.

The Captains posted a 29-4 record in 2018-2019, winning both the CAC regular and post-season titles. CNU won four games in the NCAA Tournament, two at the Freeman Center and then two more in a sectional in Clinton, NY., where they ousted NESCAC programs, Hamilton and Williams, on back-to-back nights to reach the Final Four. His 2015-2016 squad finished with a 30-2 record, setting the new school all-time single season win mark, and advancing to the Final Four for the first time ever.

Krikorian, who enjoyed a very successful four-year stint as the head coach at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, is a native of Auburn, Massachusetts. “Coach K” compiled a record of 65-42 (.607) at the Merchant Marine Academy, and led the squad to a 24-5 record his last season there in 2009-2010. The Mariners won the Landmark Conference regular-season and post-season championships that year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He was named the 2010 Landmark Conference Coach of the Year.

Prior to CNU

After graduation, Krikorian spent two years in the business world working for Princeton Consultants, an information management company in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1998, Krikorian returned to his passion and accepted the position of graduate assistant basketball coach at West Virginia Wesleyan College. What followed was a steady climb up the ladder of the college coaching ranks.

After one season at West Virginia Wesleyan, “Coach K” made his first stop at the Merchant Marine Academy as an assistant coach under Billy Lange during the 1999-2000 season. After a season there, he returned to his alma mater for two seasons, working as an assistant at Penn under Big 5 Hall of Fame Coach Fran Dunphy. There he would be a part of one of the nation’s biggest turnarounds as the Quakers won 25 games in 2001. Krikorian then accepted an assistant position at another Division I program, Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. There he assisted Fran O’Hanlon from 2002-2004. His journey then took him to Annapolis, MD, where he spent two years as an assistant at the United States Naval Academy (2004-2006), re-uniting with head coach Billy Lange. He was named the head coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 2006, beginning his head coaching career with an amazing four-year transformation of the Mariners.

Head coaching record

References