Doug Collins' nerves nearly had him in tears during the final minutes of son Chris' game at Northwestern (Video)

You probably know Doug Collins first and foremost as some sort of basketball person. He was a college star; a No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft; an NBA all-star; the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.

Doug Collins is, however, first and foremost, a dad. He’s a basketball dad. And from his midcourt seat at his son’s game Saturday, he embodied the emotions of every nervous basketball dad ever.

Collins’ son, Northwestern coach Chris Collins, was locked in a tight battle against Big Ten cellar-dweller Rutgers. The Wildcats, who just need to avoid bad losses to clinch a first NCAA tournament berth in program history, trailed for much of the second half. With the game tight late on, Papa Collins couldn’t bear to watch:

This is not the first time Doug has been on the verge of a panic attack late in a Northwestern game. He attends games regularly, whenever they don’t conflict with his ESPN NBA broadcasting duties, and has his regular seat toward the upper end of the 100 level on the sideline opposite the benches.

Two years ago, in an overtime game against Iowa, Doug’s reactions were similarly frantic as he rode an emotional seesaw:

Once ESPNU cameras located Doug on Saturday and realized he was a nervous wreck, they couldn’t resist going back to him again…

And again…

And again:

And then, at the final horn, again. But this time, after Northwestern held on for the victory, Doug was well into his celebrations that were as much out of relief as anything:

This photo compilation, via Matt Schick on Twitter, just about sums it up: