Kenneth Michael McDonald (born March 4, 1970) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach, currently working as the Director of Student-Athlete Development at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. He previously served as a head coach with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League and at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

. McDonald spent from 2004 to 2008 at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

under

Rick Barnes Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

. He previously worked as an assistant at Western Kentucky under Dennis Felton, from 1998–2003, helping the Hilltoppers reach the NCAA tournament during his final three seasons with the program. McDonald has one daughter, Ella, born January 28, 2008. On January 6, 2012,

released McDonald from his contract, citing lackluster attendance and a 5–11 start to the 2011–12 season. The firing came after a controversial game the previous night, which allowed Louisiana–Lafayette a game-winning shot with six players on the court during overtime. The error was discovered immediately after the game. Coach McDonald and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

Ross Bjork Ross Bjork (born October 22, 1972) is the current athletics director for Texas A&M University. He previously served as the director of athletics for University of Mississippi and Western Kentucky University, where he was the youngest athletic dire ...

contested the results at the scorer's table. However, officials declined to review the incident due to

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 ...

rules. He was replaced by assistant coach Ray Harper in interim, who was eventually named head coach moving forward. In September 2013, he was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Austin Toros. On July 27, 2015, he signed a contract extension with the now Austin Spurs. On April 12, 2018, McDonald was hired as an assistant coach for the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball The Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represents the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The team participates in the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane are led by head coach Eric Konkol, hired f ...

team, working under head coach Frank Haith.

Head coaching record

College

‡ Fired on January 6, 2012; Ray Harper finished the season as interim head coach with an 11–5 record, making Western Kentucky's cumulative record in the 2011–12 season 16–19 (7–9, 3rd in Sun Belt).

NBA Development League

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References

External links

Western Kentucky profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Ken 1970 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Austin Spurs coaches Austin Toros coaches Basketball coaches from Rhode Island Basketball players from Rhode Island Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Georgia Bulldogs basketball coaches Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Point guards Providence Friars men's basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Texas Longhorns men's basketball coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches