Steve Donahue (born May 21, 1962) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach, currently the head coach of the Penn Quakers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach of

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Background

Donahue is a native of Springfield Township, Pennsylvania and a former player at Ursinus College.

Coaching career

Early jobs

Prior to becoming the head coach at Cornell University, Donahue began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Springfield High School, Monsignor Bonner High School, Philadelphia University, and

The University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Cornell

Donahue had been the head coach at Cornell from September 2000 until April 6, 2010. Cornell struggled early under Donahue, but he eventually turned the program around. A March 1, 2008 defeat of the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at ...

gave Cornell the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

championship for the first time since 1988 and just the second title in program history. On March 6, 2009, with Princeton's loss to Columbia, Cornell clinched the Ivy League Championship for a second consecutive year. It was the first time in 50 years that any team other than Penn or Princeton had won consecutive Ivy League titles in basketball. Exactly one year later on March 6, 2010, Donahue's Cornell team defeated the Brown Bears to clinch its third consecutive title and fourth in team history. This guaranteed an automatic bid for Cornell in the 2010 NCAA basketball tournament, in which Cornell was given a 12-seed in the East region. Cornell went on to win two games in the tournament, defeating 5-seed Temple and then 4-seed Wisconsin, both victories by double digit margins, to advance to the Sweet 16, the first Ivy League team to advance this far since 1979 (when Penn reached the final four). There they fell to the 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats, ending their historic run. This team featured several lauded seniors, including point guard Louis Dale, who finished as the third highest scorer and top assist man in Cornell history; center

Jeff Foote Jeffrey Bernard Foote (born July 14, 1987) is an American professional basketball player. College career Foote began his college basketball career at St. Bonaventure University. He redshirted his freshman season before he transferred to Cornell ...

, whose presence in the middle was essential to Cornell's success; and forward Ryan Wittman, who finished as the top scorer in Cornell men's basketball history (and the 5th highest scorer overall in Ivy League's men's basketball history) at 2,028 points. Donahue received the

Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award The Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award honored the active men's NCAA Division I basketball coach who has made the most significant positive contributions to his sport during the preceding year. The winner reflected the character and professional qua ...

for his accomplishments during the 2009–10 season.

Boston College

On April 7, 2010,

announced that Donahue had been hired as the head coach of its basketball program, replacing coach

Al Skinner Albert Lee Skinner Jr. (born June 16, 1952) is an American men's college basketball head coach and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. He was formerly the head coach of the Boston College Eagles men's basketball team and was t ...

. Donahue led the Eagles to the second round of the NIT his first year. Donahue's second year was less successful, as the Eagles won only 9 games and lost to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

for the fourth year in a row. Donahue led the Eagles to a 16–17 season in his third year. Despite going 16–17, the Eagles lost to two top ten teams by one point. On February 19, 2014, Donahue achieved what is considered his biggest win at BC by beating #1-ranked Syracuse on the road in the Carrier Dome, 62–59 in overtime. The upset was one of the few bright spots of Donahue's fourth and final year, which saw the Eagles finish with an 8–24 record. On March 18, 2014, Boston College terminated Donahue. He compiled a 54–76 record in four seasons and failed to reach the NCAA tournament.

Penn

On March 16, 2015, Donahue was named the 20th head coach in Penn basketball history, replacing Jerome Allen. Donahue served as an assistant coach for the Quakers from 1990 to 2000. Following Donahue's hiring as head coach, Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University and USA National Team head coach, stated, "Steve Donahue is a terrific basketball coach, and is even more impressive off the court," adding, "This is truly an outstanding hire by the University of Pennsylvania." Penn's 2017–18 team won the 2018 Ivy League tournament qualifying for their 1st NCAA Tournament since 2007. As the 16th seed for the Midwest bracket of the 2018 NCAA tournament, they played number 1 seed

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. The Quakers jumped out to a 21–11 lead with 8:01 left in the 1st half. However, the Jayhawks finished the half on a 22–5 run taking a 33–26 lead into half-time. The Jayhawks never trailed again and outscored the Quakers 43–34 in the 2nd half, causing the Quakers to lose 60–76.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Penn profile

Cornell profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Steve 1962 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania Boston College Eagles men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Cornell Big Red men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Penn Quakers men's basketball coaches Philadelphia Rams men's basketball coaches Ursinus Bears men's basketball players Place of birth missing (living people) American men's basketball players