Kevin Bannon (born June 11, 1957) is a former American men's college basketball head coach who most recently served as head coach at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

from 1997 through 2001. Prior to that he spent eight years as head coach of

Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...

's team and seven more as the coach of

Trenton State College The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

. A native of

Verona, New Jersey Verona is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 14,572, an increase of 1,240 (+9.3%) from the 2010 census count of 13,332, which in turn reflected a decl ...

, Bannon graduated from Verona High School in 1975.Sullivan, Tara
"Blushing Ex-Rider At Rutgers Last-Choice Bannon Embraces Job"
''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', April 4, 1997. Accessed February 6, 2018. "Kevin Bannon Age: 39 Family: Wife Cindy, son Tommy (4) Hometown: Grew up in Verona, N.J. Lives in Lawrenceville, N.J." He holds a bachelor's degree in management from Saint Peter's College in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

. During his tenure at Rutgers, Bannon went 59–60 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament, although he was able to take the Scarlet Knights to the NIT. His only appearances in the NCAA Tournament came during his time at Rider, when he led the team to two consecutive berths by winning the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

tournament. Bannon came under fire toward the end of his tenure at Rutgers regarding an incident in a free throw drill during his first year as coach. Players Earl Johnson and Josh Sankes claimed they were forced to remove clothing for each free throw they missed, and then were forced to run wind sprints while naked. Other players claimed the practice was in fun, and expressed their disappointment that Rutgers and Bannon were being sued because of this. Both players transferred from Rutgers, and Johnson filed a lawsuit against the school, which was later reduced to naming Bannon as one of two co-defendants. The suit had originally been dismissed in 1999, but in 2001 was reinstated. Bannon has not coached on the collegiate level since his firing at Rutgers and most recently was employed by the Mercer County, New Jersey, Park Commission, until 2016 where he served as its executive director. He was indicted on October 31, 2017, in connection with misuse of public funds and his relationship with the Park District. A resident of the Lawrenceville section of

Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Lawrence Township is a township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the south and the Raritan Valley region to the north, the township is an outer-ring suburb of New Yo ...

, he returned to coaching basketball in 2008, acting as the coach for the boys' varsity team at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville. He resigned from that position in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannon, Kevin 1957 births Living people Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball players from New Jersey High school basketball coaches in New Jersey People from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey People from Verona, New Jersey Rider Broncs men's basketball coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball coaches Saint Peter's Peacocks men's basketball players Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey TCNJ Lions men's basketball coaches Verona High School (New Jersey) alumni Virginia Commonwealth University alumni American men's basketball players