James Whitford Position: Associate Head Coach/Third Year at Arizona Alma Mater: Wisconsin, 1994

Whitford has been a mainstay on Sean Miller's staff for six seasons, having made the move to Tucson in the spring of 2009. His tireless efforts as a recruiter and his defensive expertise are key components to the Wildcat coaching staff.

He was promoted to associate head coach following the 2010-11 season.

Whitford's defensive excellence definitely was on display in 2010-11 as the Wildcats rolled to the Pac-10 regular season championship and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UA saw its defensive numbers improve dramatically, as the opposition's scoring average and three-point field goal percentage dropped by nearly four points each. UA's .293 three-point field goal percentage defense figure ranked fifth nationally and was the lowest in program history.

He spent four seasons at Xavier (2005-09), helping the Musketeers amass a 103-35 (.746) record, three Atlantic-10 Conference championships, one A-10 tournament title and four NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2007-08 XU squad advanced to the West Regional Final.

Prior to his tenure in Cincinnati, Whitford spent 11 seasons on the staff at Miami University (Ohio) for Charlie Coles, the last eight as the top assistant. In that span, the RedHawks won better than 60 percent of its games (201-130), captured the 2004-05 Mid-American Conference championship and advanced to the 1999 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

Whitford's first two seasons in Oxford, Ohio, were as an administrative assistant in 1994-95 and 1995-96. He became a full-time assistant on Coles's staff in 1997 and was promoted to the top assistant in June 1998. All told, he was a part of three NCAA Tournament appearances (1995, '97, '99), two NIT berths (1996, 2005) and four MAC regular-season championships (1995, '97, '99, 2005) while at Miami.

Whitford, 40, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He served as a manager for the Badger men's basketball program for three seasons. Arizona head coach Sean Miller was an assistant coach for Wisconsin during the 1992-93 campaign, Whitford's junior season at UW.

A native of Madison, Wis., Whitford and his wife, Amber, have two sons, Liam and Spencer. Amber was an assistant coach with the Xavier women's basketball team.