James Hyneman enters his seventh season with the Griffins and 40th year in the collegiate coaching ranks which includes 17 years in California community college basketball.

Hyneman’s coaching career began at Corvallis High School (Ore.) where he helped guide CHS to two league titles in three years behind a 61-12 record (1977-80) as the varsity assistant. Corvallis’s nationally ranked 1980 team won the Oregon AAA State Championship with a 25-1 record.

His collegiate coaching career began at Montana State University-Billings the following year where as top assistant then interim Head Coach led the Yellowjackets into the NCAA Division II West Regional Championship behind an NCAA Division II top-15 ranking and 21-7 record.

Hyneman then enjoyed 19 years of success at U.C. Riverside (1981-2000) where he played an integral part in UCR’s transition from NCAA Division II to Division I and into the Big West Conference. He was instrumental in helping UCR generate a .703 winning percentage that included seven CCAA Championships, 10 NCAA Tournament bids, and two NCAA Division II Final Four appearances in 1987 and the 1995 NCAA Division II National Championship game against the University of Southern Indiana.

His first California community college position was head coach for Citrus College (2001-05). Notable achievements included being the first Citrus coach since 1984 to post back-to-back winning seasons, and one of a handful of college coaches to ever defeat the regular season No. 1 ranked California community college team (Los Angeles City College), the California Community College State Champion (Compton College), and then No. 2 nationally ranked NJCAA power Yavapai College (AZ) in a single season.

Hyneman left Citrus for Los Angeles City College in 2005 where he served as assistant coach for two years before being named Acting Head Coach for the majority of the 2007-08 season. Hyneman guided LA City through the entire 10-game 2008 South Coast Conference schedule as well as most non-conference contests and into the Southern California Regional Finals with LACC finishing 25-9. LA City was the 2006 & 2007 South Coast Conference Champion and 79-21 (24-6 in SCC) during Hyneman’s three years.

LA City opened an opportunity to assume the top assistant position at NCAA Division II power Columbus State University in Georgia where he helped develop CSU into one of the NCAA’s top defensive programs. Additional highlights included a stunning road victory over then NCAA Division II number-one ranked Valdosta State and a nationally recognized, non-conference victory over SEC member Auburn University in 2010. He returned to California soon after where he joined the coaching staff at San Diego Mesa College for three years before joining the Griffins in August 2017.

Hyneman is a graduate of Oregon State University with three B.S. degrees in Broadcast Journalism, Speech Education, and Agricultural Management.  He holds a Master's Degree in Physical Education from Azusa Pacific University, as well as a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from California Southern College of Law.