Jim Gillen is entering his second year as associate athletic director for facilities and community engagement at MSU Denver in 2015-16. In addition, he oversees the athletic training program. Gillen oversees all home events and is responsible for scheduling all events at The Regency Athletic Complex.
Gillen spent 23 years in the NBA as the athletic trainer for the Denver Nuggets. He also served as the team's travel coordinator.
He joined the Nuggets in 1991 after serving as the assistant athletic trainer for the Denver Broncos from 1987-90. He accompanied the team to three Super Bowls and was a part of the NFL's athletic training staff of the year in 1987.
Prior to joining the Broncos, Gillen was an athletic trainer for the AMI/Denver Broncos Sports Medicine Clinic in 1987 and served as the head athletic trainer at Overland High School from 1982-86 and Aurora Central High School from 1980-82.
After receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees from Fort Hays State (Kan.), Gillen was the head athletic trainer at Roosevelt High School in San Antonio before moving to Denver.
A member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, Gillen is a past president of the Colorado Athletic Trainers Association. He is also past Chairman of the NBA Athletic Trainers Association and is a recipient of the National Athletic Trainers Association 25 Year Award.
Gillen has served as an athletic trainer at three NBA All-Star Games, working the 2005 (Denver) and 2003 (Atlanta) contests as the head trainer for the Western Conference and the 1995 game in Phoenix as an assistant.
He was honored with the Joe O'Toole NBA Athletic Trainer of the Year Award in 2002 and 2008 and was an athletic trainer for USA Basketball at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis. In 2010 Gillen was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, which represents the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. He was also inducted into the Colorado Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
Gillen established the Excellence in High School Athletic Training Award in 2003 given annually to the top high school athletic training program in Colorado and Wyoming. The recipient receives a monetary donation for supplies and equipment and is recognized at a Nuggets home game. In addition, each year a comeback athlete of the year and the school that the athlete attends are rewarded for outstanding rehab. The athlete receives financial aid for their first year of college.
A native of Meade, Kan., his family includes wife Terri, daughter Rachel; daughter Jamee Ulitzky, her husband Josh and their children Joey, Jordan and Julia; son J.D., his wife Emily and their daughters Alexsis and Aspen; and daughter Amanda Lloyd and her husband J and their daughter Karaline.
