Jim Tracy began his career coaching the lower levels at De La Salle Institute in 1978, where his teams were 70-22 over five years, with two sophomore championships.  He was the varsity coach at De La Salle for seven years.  In that time, the Meteors were 135-52, with one Catholic League title, five regional championships, and ten holiday tournament championships.  

In 1990, Tracy moved to Central High School in Springfield, Missouri.  Taking over a program that had won two games the previous season, the Bulldogs improved to eight wins in Tracy's first year and fifteen wins in his second.  

In 1992, Tracy returned to the Chicago area, becoming the head coach at Reavis High School.  In his first season, Tracy's Rams finished with 19 wins, setting a record for the most wins in school history.  The next season, the Rams finished at 21-6, again breaking the record for most wins and best record ever for Reavis basketball. Over the course of twelve years, the Rams have won 20 games six times.  During the 2003-04 season, Reavis Basketball finished a record-breaking season with a mark of 23-3, winning the SICA North championship with an undefeated 10-0 mark.   In Tracy's fifteen years at Reavis, the Rams were 269-130, with three SICA North conference championships, seven SICA North/SSC conference runners-up and thirteen holiday tournament championships. His overall record makes Tracy the winningest coach in Reavis High School history.  Jim has received numerous coaching honors, including Chicago Catholic League, IBCA District 2 and District 7, SICA North, and Southtown Economist Coach of the Year Awards.  Tracy completed his twenty-fourth year as a varsity head coach in 2007, after which he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.  His career varsity record is 427 - 210.  Jim continued coaching as the varsity assistant coach at Reavis, a role he had been in since 2008 through his retirement from Reavis in 2014.  

Jim has also been on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association since the late 1980’s (except for his time in Missouri).  He was the President of the IBCA from 2007-2009.  Jim was named the Associate Executive Director of the IBCA in 2013.  With the passing of long-time Executive Director Chuck Rolinski in the Fall of 2014, Jim was selected as the second Executive Director of the 41 year old organization. He currently continues to serve in this position. 

In May of 2015, Jim was fortunate to return to his high school alma mater, working as an Assistant Athletics Director and Boys Basketball Assistant Coach.  Jim has also become the Boys Head Golf Coach for the Vikings.  He continues in these roles today. A 1972 graduate of St. Laurence High School (St. Laurence Athletic Hall of Fame ’08) and Illinois Benedictine University C’77(Benedictine University Athletic Hall of Fame ’13) as well as a Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame Inductee (2014), Jim and his wife, Caryl, have three children, Jennifer (John), Jimmy, and Julie (Chris) and three grandchildren.