Kevin James O'Neill (born January 24, 1957) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach with experience as the head coach of various

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) teams. Most recently he was the coach of the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

basketball team. O'Neill was born in

Malone, New York Malone ( moh, Tekanatà:ronhwe) is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 14,545 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Malone. The town is an interior town located in the north-central part ...

and attended

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Canada. He lettered in basketball for three years in college, 1976–79, and in 1978 the McGill Redman had a school-record 28 win season and entered the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship tournament. He graduated from McGill in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in education, and later earned his master's degree in secondary education from Marycrest College in 1983, where he also served as head coach of the NAIA basketball team for the 1982–83 season.McGill grad O’Neill appointed coach of USC Trojans
McGill University, June 21, 2009, accessed April 29, 2013.

Early life

Born in

, O'Neill grew up in nearby Chateaugay and graduated from Chateaugay Central School in 1975.

Early coaching career

O'Neill's head coaching career began with tenures at

North Country Community College North Country Community College is a public community college in Saranac Lake, New York. It is part of the State University of New York system. Founded in 1967, the college's main campus is located in Saranac Lake, New York, and it has additi ...

( Saranac Lake,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

), Marycrest College ( Davenport,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

), Marquette,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and Northwestern. During his tenure as the Northwestern coach O'Neill is most notably remembered for a game with Indiana where the rowdy Northwestern faithful chanted "Hoosier Daddy" (a play on "Who's Your Daddy?") at opposing coach

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

. Of course this did not sit well with Knight as he and O'Neill got into it during the contest. However all was settled under a practice gym basket well after the game as ESPN camera crews caught the coaches talking their issues out. He would eventually become an assistant coach under

Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American commentator for ESPN and former basketball coach. He served as head coach of the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his ten ...

with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. In 2001, he joined the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

under head coach

Rick Carlisle Richard Preston Carlisle ( ; born October 27, 1959) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detro ...

Marquette Golden Eagles

As the head coach at Marquette, O'Neill led the then-Warriors to two 20+ win seasons, two

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

tournament appearances, and a

Great Midwest Conference The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995. History It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Belt ...

Championship. O'Neill played a prominent role in the 1994 Oscar-nominated documentary,

Hoop Dreams ''Hoop Dreams'' is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates an ...

Toronto Raptors 2003–04

The

graduate returned to Canada in June 2003 as the head coach of the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. His

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

was marked by inconsistency among his players, but the team was 25–25 after 50 games and in a position to return to the playoffs. However, injuries to key players resulted in the team going 8–24 to finish the season three games out of a playoff spot. On April 17, 2004, O'Neill was fired in the aftermath of a disappointing 2003–2004 season, after making some remarks which were taken to question the team's commitment to winning.

Indiana Pacers

In the 2004–2005 season he was hired as an assistant coach with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

where he rejoined head coach

Arizona Wildcats 2007–08

On May 1, 2007 it was announced that O'Neill would replace Jim Rosborough as the assistant coach to

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. O'Neill was an assistant under Olson during Arizona's rise to national prominence in the 1980s, and used it as a launching board to attain his first major head coaching position at Marquette. On November 4, 2007, Olson announced that he was taking an "indefinite leave of absence", and that O'Neill would assume Olson's head coaching duties in his absence. On December 6 Olson released a statement stating that he would be extending his leave of absence for the remainder of the season. He cited personal family reasons that required his immediate attention; the next day, his attorney revealed that Olson had filed for divorce from his second wife. The same day it was announced that O'Neill would remain the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Later the same month, on December 18, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood announced O'Neill as the designated successor to Olson. Olson said at the time he planned to return for the 2008–09 season; Livengood stated that O'Neill would succeed Olson upon his retirement. In March 2008, Olson confirmed that he would return as head coach for the 2008–2009 season, and said that he planned to coach until his contract ended in 2011. With the announcement of Olson's return, the O'Neill succession plan was thrown into question amidst media rumors of disagreement between Olson and O'Neill. Only a month later, Lute Olson announced that O'Neill would not be retained on the University of Arizona staff. After spending the spring and summer preparing for the upcoming season, Olson abruptly and unexpectedly announced his permanent retirement from the Arizona basketball program in October 2008; his personal physician cited health concerns as the reason.

Memphis Grizzlies 2008–09

In May 2008, O'Neill was hired as an assistant coach & special assistant to the GM for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

USC Trojans 2009–2013

On June 20, 2009, O'Neill was named head coach of the USC men's basketball team. O'Neill along with noted USC booster Nik Visger were involved in an altercation with an

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

booster at his hotel on March 10, 2011. As a result, O'Neill was suspended for the rest of the Pac-10 tournament, which resulted in a 67–62 loss for the Trojans. O'Neill's 2012–2013 entered the season with high hopes based around a number of transfers coming in from other programs. The team started the season 3–6, fueling speculation that it would be O'Neill's last at USC. Much of this speculation was due to the fact that O'Neill sold his Los Angeles home, and relocated to Coronado, CA, which is located over 125 miles away from USC. On January 14, 2013

Pat Haden Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is the former athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in ...

, USC Athletic Director, announced that O'Neill had been relieved of his duties at the University after beginning the season 7–10 (2–2 Pac-12).

Broadcasting career

In October 2013, O'Neill joined

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

as a college basketball analyst.

Head coaching record

College

''* All 19 wins and 1 tournament loss from 2007–08 season was later vacated'' ''** Final record at Arizona after vacated wins'' ''*** Takes into account vacated wins at Arizona''

NBA

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Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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References

External links

Kevin O'Neill profile
@ NBA.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Kevin 1957 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada Arizona Wildcats men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York (state) College basketball announcers in the United States College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball coaches Detroit Pistons assistant coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches McGill Redmen basketball players Memphis Grizzlies assistant coaches New York Knicks assistant coaches Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball coaches People from Chateaugay, New York People from Malone, New York Tennessee Volunteers basketball coaches Toronto Raptors head coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches USC Trojans men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players