John Gallagher (born May 27, 1977) is the head men's basketball coach at Manhattan College. He previously served as the head coach at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

from 2010 until 2022.

Career

Assistant coach

Gallagher started his coaching career working as an assistant at

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

and La Salle University. From 2006 to 2008 Gallagher worked as associate head coach under

Dan Leibovitz Dan Leibovitz (born July 30, 1973) is a former American basketball coach. He was an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA for the 2012-13 season, and previously a college head coach at Hartford from 2006–10, and an assistant coa ...

, helping the Hawks to their first appearance in the America East Championship game in 2008. Hartford lost the game to

UMBC The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

64–50. Gallagher left Hartford in 2008, and spent two years as an assistant coach under Glen Miller with the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are s ...

. He then briefly worked as an assistant under

Steve Donahue Steve Donahue (born May 21, 1962) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Penn Quakers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach of Boston College and Cornell. Background Donahue is a native of Spring ...

at Boston College, a position he held for less than two weeks before being offered the head coaching job at Hartford.

Hartford

2010–11 season

In his first season at the helm, Gallagher guided the Hawks to an 11–20 record, going 7–9 in league play. In the America East Tournament, Hartford upset third-seeded Maine to make an appearance in the semifinals.

2011–12 season

In 2011–12, Gallagher and the Hawks struggled in the early season with a roster featuring seven freshman, going 0-13 before finishing the year 9–9 on its way to a 9–22 record. The Hawks made the America East Tournament semifinals once again after defeating Boston University, before falling in double-overtime to

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

for a place in the conference final.

2012–13 season

The 2012–13 season saw Gallagher guide the Hawks go 17–12 in the regular season, earning a fourth-place finish in the America East. After falling to

in the America East Championship quarterfinals, Hartford accepted a bid to the 2013 CIT, losing to Rider in the first round. This was the program's first postseason appearance since its move to Division I.

2017–18 season

On January 31, 2018 Gallagher earned his 100th victory as coach of Hartford with a 79–62 win over

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. and on February 28, 2018 Gallagher was named America East Co-Coach of the year. Hartford returned to the CIT Tournament falling to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

in the first round. After the 2017–2018 season Gallagher signed a contract extension.

2020–21 season

During the 2020–21 season, Gallagher led the Hawks to the America East Championship, defeating

UMass Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Mas ...

64–50 earning an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. Hartford would fall to eventual National Champion Baylor in the first round.

Sudden resignation prior to 2022–23

On November 7, 2022, just one day before Hartford was scheduled to start the 2022–23 season (its final year as a Division I member), Gallagher resigned unexpectedly. In his letter, Gallagher said the school had consistently undermined the program “to the point where player safety and well-being has been jeopardized.” He cited a preseason scrimmage at Dartmouth in late October, when one of his players was injured and wasn’t immediately helped because the school did not send an athletic trainer with the team. The university initially disputed the claims of player safety.

Manhattan

On March 29, 2023 Gallagher was named the head coach at Manhattan.https://www.courant.com/2023/03/28/former-uhart-mens-basketball-coach-john-gallagher-finalizing-contract-to-take-over-at-manhattan-college/

Head coaching record

Personal life

Gallagher graduated from Saint Joseph's University in 1999, where he played basketball under head coach Phil Martelli.

References

External links

Manhattan Jaspers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, John 1977 births Living people Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Hartford Hawks men's basketball coaches Lafayette Leopards men's basketball coaches La Salle Explorers men's basketball coaches Manhattan Jaspers men's basketball coaches Penn Quakers men's basketball coaches Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball players