Men's Basketball
Lake, Jim
Jim Lake
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Year at CMU:
- 1st year at CMU
- Hometown:
- North Branch, Mich.
- Alma Mater/Year:
- Central Michigan/1999
- Experience:
- 23rd year in coaching
Michigan native, Central Michigan graduate, and former Ferris State assistant Jim Lake has been named an Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Central Michigan University, Head Coach Andy Bronkema announced.
“Bringing Coach Lake back to Central Michigan was a high priority for me from day one,” Bronkema said. “Our history together and his skill set will be vital for our program. Jim and his wife Kara are CMU grads and his family will be great additions to the community. Jim is a relentless recruiter but more importantly, his background as an educator and his commitment to teaching and developing our student-athletes will be elite. Jim’s head coaching experience will allow him to be influential in every aspect of our program. His Wisconsin network will also increase our Midwest footprint. It’s great to add a third national champion with head coaching experience to our staff.”
“First, the opportunity to come back to a place that is so special to my family and I as Central Michigan is awesome,” Lake said. “But to work with a guy I couldn’t trust more as a coach in Andy Bronkema and especially as a person is an outstanding opportunity. So excited to share the passion with our student-athletes. Fire Up Chips!”
Lake spent the previous seven seasons (2018-25) as the head men’s basketball coach at NCAA Division III University of Wisconsin-Stout. His UW-Stout teams continually ranked among the top schools in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in scoring as the Blue Devils finished among the top-four in conference scoring leaders in five of his seven seasons. Some of his highlights at UW-Stout included a 16-9 overall record in 2021-22, a season that saw the Blue Devils host their first WIAC tournament game since 2007. The Blue Devils set a new team record for points in a single game when they defeated Greenville 125-119, led the WIAC in scoring and were ranked No. 10 nationally in scoring, averaging 86.7 points per contest. The following year, the Blue Devils scored 147 points and Brody Fox finished with 70, the second-highest scoring game in a WIAC contest. He also coached only the second All-American in school history.
During five seasons as Ferris State’s top assistant (2013-18), Lake helped lead the Bulldogs to four consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championships and four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, culminating in a 38-1 overall record and the 2018 NCAA Division II national title with a 71-69 win over Northern State University. During the 2016-17 season, the Bulldogs compiled a then-school best 28-5 overall record while winning the GLIAC's regular season and tournament titles. FSU also advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Semifinals. The Bulldogs concluded the 2015-16 season with a 24-10 overall record and reached the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen, while finishing with their first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the late 1980s.
Lake began his collegiate coaching career with the Bulldogs as a volunteer assistant under former head coach Bill Sall and with Bronkema from 2003-06. During that time, the Bulldogs claimed back-to-back GLIAC North Division championships and made two-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen showing in 2004-05.
After leaving the Bulldog program to serve as a club coach for the Grand Rapids Storm, he returned to FSU in 2011-12 and helped the Bulldogs to a share of a second-straight GLIAC North Division crown in his first season back with the program.
Lake has nearly 17 years of high school coaching experience, including nine seasons as a varsity basketball coach at both the Class B and D levels in Michigan. During the 1996-97 campaign at Mount Pleasant Baptist Academy, he was the youngest (21) head coach for a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) member school. He worked as a teacher and head men’s basketball coach in the Chippewa Hills school district from 1999-2013.
During his time with the Storm, as a 16-and-under coach, he compiled a 123-32 mark while coaching 35 players who moved on to college basketball, including 11 NCAA Division I players. Lake has also previously worked basketball camps at Ferris State, Central Michigan, Michigan, Wisconsin, and UW-Stout.
Lake earned his bachelor’s degree in Education with an emphasis in social studies and a minor in history from Central Michigan University in 1999. He later earned a master’s degree in Sports and Recreation with an emphasis in coaching from Ohio University.
A Thumb area Michigan native, Lake was raised in North Branch and graduated from North Branch (Mich.) High School in 1994, where he earned all-area and all-conference honors in football and played basketball.
Lake and his wife, Kara have two children, Abigail and Peter.
THE LAKE FILE
Date announced as CMU Assistant Coach: May 2, 2025
Hometown: North Branch, Mich.
Family: wife Kara, daughter Abigail, son Peter
Education
Bachelor of Science, Education, Central Michigan University, 1999
Master of Science, Recreation and Sports Sciences, Ohio University, 2012
Coaching Career
Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Central Michigan University, 2025-current
Head Men’s Basketball Coach, University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2018-25
Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Ferris State University, 2013-18
Volunteer Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Ferris State University, 2011-13
Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Chippewa Hills High School, 2009-11
Head Coach, Grand Rapids Storm, 2007-10
Volunteer Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Ferris State University, 2003-06
Head Coach, Mount Pleasant Baptist Academy, 1997-99
“Bringing Coach Lake back to Central Michigan was a high priority for me from day one,” Bronkema said. “Our history together and his skill set will be vital for our program. Jim and his wife Kara are CMU grads and his family will be great additions to the community. Jim is a relentless recruiter but more importantly, his background as an educator and his commitment to teaching and developing our student-athletes will be elite. Jim’s head coaching experience will allow him to be influential in every aspect of our program. His Wisconsin network will also increase our Midwest footprint. It’s great to add a third national champion with head coaching experience to our staff.”
“First, the opportunity to come back to a place that is so special to my family and I as Central Michigan is awesome,” Lake said. “But to work with a guy I couldn’t trust more as a coach in Andy Bronkema and especially as a person is an outstanding opportunity. So excited to share the passion with our student-athletes. Fire Up Chips!”
Lake spent the previous seven seasons (2018-25) as the head men’s basketball coach at NCAA Division III University of Wisconsin-Stout. His UW-Stout teams continually ranked among the top schools in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in scoring as the Blue Devils finished among the top-four in conference scoring leaders in five of his seven seasons. Some of his highlights at UW-Stout included a 16-9 overall record in 2021-22, a season that saw the Blue Devils host their first WIAC tournament game since 2007. The Blue Devils set a new team record for points in a single game when they defeated Greenville 125-119, led the WIAC in scoring and were ranked No. 10 nationally in scoring, averaging 86.7 points per contest. The following year, the Blue Devils scored 147 points and Brody Fox finished with 70, the second-highest scoring game in a WIAC contest. He also coached only the second All-American in school history.
During five seasons as Ferris State’s top assistant (2013-18), Lake helped lead the Bulldogs to four consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championships and four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, culminating in a 38-1 overall record and the 2018 NCAA Division II national title with a 71-69 win over Northern State University. During the 2016-17 season, the Bulldogs compiled a then-school best 28-5 overall record while winning the GLIAC's regular season and tournament titles. FSU also advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Semifinals. The Bulldogs concluded the 2015-16 season with a 24-10 overall record and reached the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen, while finishing with their first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the late 1980s.
Lake began his collegiate coaching career with the Bulldogs as a volunteer assistant under former head coach Bill Sall and with Bronkema from 2003-06. During that time, the Bulldogs claimed back-to-back GLIAC North Division championships and made two-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen showing in 2004-05.
After leaving the Bulldog program to serve as a club coach for the Grand Rapids Storm, he returned to FSU in 2011-12 and helped the Bulldogs to a share of a second-straight GLIAC North Division crown in his first season back with the program.
Lake has nearly 17 years of high school coaching experience, including nine seasons as a varsity basketball coach at both the Class B and D levels in Michigan. During the 1996-97 campaign at Mount Pleasant Baptist Academy, he was the youngest (21) head coach for a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) member school. He worked as a teacher and head men’s basketball coach in the Chippewa Hills school district from 1999-2013.
During his time with the Storm, as a 16-and-under coach, he compiled a 123-32 mark while coaching 35 players who moved on to college basketball, including 11 NCAA Division I players. Lake has also previously worked basketball camps at Ferris State, Central Michigan, Michigan, Wisconsin, and UW-Stout.
Lake earned his bachelor’s degree in Education with an emphasis in social studies and a minor in history from Central Michigan University in 1999. He later earned a master’s degree in Sports and Recreation with an emphasis in coaching from Ohio University.
A Thumb area Michigan native, Lake was raised in North Branch and graduated from North Branch (Mich.) High School in 1994, where he earned all-area and all-conference honors in football and played basketball.
Lake and his wife, Kara have two children, Abigail and Peter.
THE LAKE FILE
Date announced as CMU Assistant Coach: May 2, 2025
Hometown: North Branch, Mich.
Family: wife Kara, daughter Abigail, son Peter
Education
Bachelor of Science, Education, Central Michigan University, 1999
Master of Science, Recreation and Sports Sciences, Ohio University, 2012
Coaching Career
Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Central Michigan University, 2025-current
Head Men’s Basketball Coach, University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2018-25
Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Ferris State University, 2013-18
Volunteer Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Ferris State University, 2011-13
Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Chippewa Hills High School, 2009-11
Head Coach, Grand Rapids Storm, 2007-10
Volunteer Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Ferris State University, 2003-06
Head Coach, Mount Pleasant Baptist Academy, 1997-99
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