Jack Perri returns for his fourth season as head men's basketball coach at LIU Brooklyn in 2015-16. Perri, who helped the Blackbirds make history in his first season as head coach, took over as head man in April 2012 after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach at the downtown Brooklyn campus.

In his first season at the helm, Perri guided the Blackbirds to an unprecedented third straight Northeast Conference Tournament title in 2013 and became just the second recipient of the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year award, handed out annually to the top first-year head coach at the NCAA Division I level.

In 2012-13, Perri led the Blackbirds to their third consecutive 20-win season and another trip to the NCAA Tournament. The three-straight years of 20 victories marked the first time the LIU program had accomplished the feat since 1981-84.

Sixteen of the 20 triumphs came following the loss of 2012 Northeast Conference Player of the Year Julian Boyd to a season-ending injury just eight games into the year. Perri restructured the high-powered LIU offense following the midseason loss and boosted the unit into the top five nationally in scoring (fifth at 79.5 ppg). The Blackbirds registered 90 or more points on eight times during the season, and failed to hit the 70-point plateau just three times.

The Manalapan, N.J. native mentored the 2012-13 NEC Player of the Year Jamal Olasewere to career highs in scoring and rebounding, as well as junior point guard Jason Brickman to a LIU single-season record in assists. Brickman led all NCAA Divsion I players in assists per game (8.5).

His second season was undercut by a slew of injuries that limited the team to just eight available scholarship players at times, but did include a near-upset victory over defending Big Ten champion Indiana at Assembly Hall. LIU Brooklyn led for much of the game and had a pair of shots to take the lead in the closing moments but fell just short.

Playing in a friendly offense designed by Perri that utilizes ball screens and ball movement, Brickman once again led the nation in assists at a remarkable 10.0 per game, becoming just the second player in NCAA history to average double-figures in the category for an entire season.

Since joining the Blackbirds, Perri has helped the team steadily move up the ladder in the NEC. With Perri serving as associate head coach in 2011-12, LIU went 25-9 this season en route to a second appearance in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.

The Blackbirds matched their 16-2 league mark from the year before to set an NEC record for two-year conference winning percentage (32-4, .889) and won at least 25 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1941-42.

The Blackbirds ranked second in the country in scoring (81.4 ppg) and compiled the nation's second-longest active home winning streak at 27 games. Junior Julian Boyd became the fourth player in LIU history to be named NEC Player of the Year and was joined on the all-conference teams by junior Jamal Olasewere and sophomore Jason Brickman.

The 2010-11 season saw LIU compile a 27-6 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997. The Blackbirds recorded their most overall wins since the 1936-37 team coached by Hall of Famer Clair Bee and set a program-record with a 16-2 mark in the NEC.

The team ranked fourth in the nation in scoring (82.7 ppg) and set a program record for conference wins (16). The Blackbirds also led the nation in road wins (13), entered the NCAA Tournament with a country's best 13 straight wins. LIU's 13-win improvement over the previous season was also the best in the nation.

In his time at LIU, Perri has seen 10 players earn All-NEC honors, including Boyd, who was named conference player of the year in 2011-12 after earning rookie of the year accolades in 2008-09. For his efforts, Perri was tabbed as the top assistant in the NEC by Jeff Goodman's FoxSports.com blog prior to the 2010-11 season.

Before joining Jim Ferry's staff at LIU, Perri served as the head men's basketball coach at Division III Rhode Island College in 2004-05. In his lone season at Rhode Island College, Perri took the Anchormen to the final of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament after posting a 20-9 record. Under Perri's direction, Rhode Island College captured the program's first Little East Conference co-regular season championship and he was named the league's coach of the year in his first season at the helm.

Following his graduation from Bentley College, the Manalapan, N.J., native moved to the sidelines as the top assistant coach at his alma mater. As the top assistant from 1998 to 2004, he was responsible for all aspects of recruiting and helped build a squad that went on to earn the No. 1 national ranking in 2004-05 and a No. 2 ranking in 2006-07. During his time on the staff with the Falcons, he helped the team return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight seasons in 2002.

A 1998 graduate of Bentley, Perri was a two-year captain and helped the Falcons post four winning seasons while playing in 99 career games. He was recruited to Bentley by Ferry, whom he subsequently replaced as assistant coach upon his graduation.

Perri and his wife, Julie, currently reside in Manalapan, N.J., with their three children, Sean Patrick, Jackson Richard, and Charlotte Taylor.