Virginia Commonwealth University

“I always perceive myself as being a builder,”says Finley, entering his seven season with VCU. “I like totake something that’s dysfunctional and turn it intosomething special.”

 
True to his word, Finley made a splash in 2005 when he took over a6-21 squad and guided the Rams to unprecedented heights. VCUfinished 22-12 in 2005 and captured its first Colonial AthleticAssociation Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. The Rams’16-win improvement was the second-largest turnaround in the countrythat season.

 
In the following years, Finley led the Rams to three moreappearances in the conference championship match (2006, 2009,2011), as well as the program’s first CAA regular-seasoncrown in 2009. He’s racked up 126 wins along the way, whichstands second all-time to Wendy Wadsworth (169) on theschool’s career list.

 
In 2008 the Rams finished 10-4 in CAA regular season action, theirbest since joining the league in 1995. VCU was 19-13 overall thatyear. In 2009, Finley's squad won 27 matches, the most by a Rams'squad since 1985, and claimed the CAA regular season crown with a12-2 league mark. VCU earned the right to host the CAA Tournamentthat year, a first for the program, and reached the championshipmatch for the third time in five seasons.

 
It’s a staggering turnaround for a program that oncelanguished at the bottom of the CAA. Prior to Finley’sarrival, the Rams hadn’t posted a winning conference recordin 14 seasons of CAA play, placing no higher than fifth over thatperiod. VCU is 39-17 in conference play over the last four yearsand has finished in the top four each season.

 
Although an eye for talent has been critical to his success, Finleybelieves an ability to maximize a player’s athletic abilitiesmay be the most important thing a coach can do. On the sidelines,Finley is often an enthusiastic cheerleader, as opposed to thestoic authoritarian commonly associated with the coachingprofession. It’s this approach, Finley says, that allows hisplayers to perform when it matters.

 
“When you’re in a crucial time in a match, as an eliteathlete, you really put a lot of pressure on yourself to besuccessful. I think it’s really important as a coach torelieve some of that pressure and not add to it,” says thenative Texan. “I’ve seen a lot of coaches just crushplayers in that time. So, I try to be very encouraging, give a lotof information that they can process to stay ahead of thegame.”

 
He also believes in two critical philosophical ideas,relationship-building and the pursuit of excellence.

 
“We really want the players to be able to trust eachother,” Finley says. “When you play alongside somebody,you want to trust that they’ll give maximum effort and thatthey know their responsibility and you can count on them to takecare of that responsibility, on and off the court.” 

 
Meanwhile, Finley is trying to stay ahead of the game himself as helooks to move the VCU program forward. The Rams have beenaggressive in both recruiting and scheduling.

 
In 2010, VCU played six ranked teams, further evidence that Finleyis willing to jump into the fray if he thinks it’ll transformthe Rams into a perennial NCAA Tournament contender. Finley alsobelieves that can be achieved by recruiting the best availableathletes.

 
“We’re working hard on recruiting a student-athletethat can play higher above the net,” he says.“Ultimately, my goal for this program is, when we get to thelast weekend for the conference tournament, that the outcome ofthat tournament is not going to determine whether we go to theNCAA’s or not.”

 
In that regard, Finley has shown a penchant for player development.In his first six seasons, Finley's players garnered four First TeamAll-CAA citations, more than the previous 11 seasons combined.Ludmila Francescatto, who transferred with Finley from ArizonaWestern in 2005, was named AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention in2005 and 2006, the first Ram to gain that distinction. MichalaKvapilova also earned that distinction following the 2009season.

A former high school and club coach, Finley moved into thecollegiate ranks at Texas El Paso, where he served as an assistantfor two years. He became head coach at Arizona Western College inYuma, Ariz., in 2001.  In four seasons there, the Matadors wonfour NJCAA Region I Division I championships. The team was rankedin the top 10 nationally each of the four seasons. His overallrecord there was 137-37. His teams performed away from the court,too. Finley coached eight academic All-Americans at ArizonaWestern.

“James may be one of the most committed coaches I haveever been around,” said former VCU Director of AthleticsNorwood T. Teague.  “He lives and breathes VCUvolleyball."

Finley earned a degree in range science from Sul Ross StateUniversity in Alpine, Texas in 1983. He has one son,30-year-old Carlton, who resides in Richmond and works at RichmondFord. Finley and John Sternlicht were married in 2010 andreside in Richmond with John’s youngest son Jeremy. John’s other son David graduated from Washington and Lee in2011 and resides in Arlington, Va.

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