An Ottawa native and uOttawa basketball alumnus, James Derouin has been the head coach and program manager of the Gee-Gees since June of 2010 and is the winningest coach in Gee-Gees men's basketball history. He holds a career regular season record of 245-70 (.778) and became the fastest coach in uOttawa history to reach 50 regular season wins. Ottawa’s playoff record under Derouin is 36-23 (.610) following the 2026 OUA Playoffs.

Derouin was named the U SPORTS National Coach of the Year for 2014-15 after leading the Gee-Gees to a regular season record of 18-1 and a first ever program ranking as no. 1 in the Top Ten. Derouin oversaw the full interuniversity careers of Johnny Berhanemeskel and Mike L'Africain; both were named the National Player of the Year in their fifth year in garnet and grey. Derouin also coached Caleb Agada to back-to-back national Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

The Gee-Gees appeared at the National Championship tournament for four seasons in a row (2013-2016), and made the team's eighth appearance under Derouin in 2025. Derouin was the first Gee-Gees head coach to bring the team to consecutive national championship tournaments since Bob O'Billovich in 1974-75, and the only coach in team history to be at four or more tournaments.

The Gee-Gees were ranked in the U SPORTS Top Ten for 152 consecutive polls, from 2012 to the end of the 2024-25 season. In 2023-24, they were ranked no. 1 for nine weeks and overall have been ranked no. 1 for twenty weeks under Derouin. Ottawa captured the OUA Wilson Cup Championship in 2025, 2023 and 2014 and has six U SPORTS medals under Derouin: two silver (2014, 2015), and four bronze (2013, 2023, 2024, 2025). Ottawa led U SPORTS in offensive production in both 2013-14 and 2014-15, averaging over 90 points per game in both campaigns. In 2024-25, the team boasted the best defence in U SPORTS, allowing the fewest points per game (65.9) and held opponents to a nation-best 34.9 field goal shooting percentage.

Derouin joined the staff of the Ottawa BlackJacks for the 2021 CEBL season, serving as Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics. He was named interim head coach of the BlackJacks on June 3, 2022 and earned a victory in his debut, June 5. For the 2024 season he was the General Manager and Head Coach of the Blackjacks, and he returned as General Manager in 2025 and 2026.

In 2015, he joined the coaching staff of Canada's Cadet National team as an assistant, winning silver at the FIBA Americas tournament. Derouin helped guide Canada to a 6-1 record and a fifth place finish at the 2016 U17 FIBA World Championships.

As a player, Derouin won a CCAA national championship with Langara College in British Columbia before transferring to uOttawa. He was captain of the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team for both the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, and then spent six years on the garnet and grey sideline as an assistant coach. While he was an assistant with uOttawa, the team twice reached the national championship tournament (2005, 2007), and built a reputation as one of the top basketball programs in the country. Derouin then spent two seasons as an assistant coach at UBC, returning to the CIS Final 8 both seasons. He earned his bachelor of arts with a concentration in history from uOttawa in 2004.

Overall, including exhibition and playoff games, Derouin's record is 411-146 (.738) as of April 1, 2026.