Lewis Joseph "Dan" D'Antoni II (born July 9, 1947) is an American former

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 (appro ...

player and coach, who most recently served as head coach for the

Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball The Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represents Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. They compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I as a member of the Sun ...

team. He was previously an assistant coach under his younger brother,

Mike D'Antoni Michael Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While h ...

, with the

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

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, and

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

Playing career

Born in

Mullens, West Virginia Mullens is a city in Wyoming County, West Virginia, Wyoming County, West Virginia. The population was 1,475 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located in a valley along the Guyandotte River within a mountainous region of s ...

, D'Antoni played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

from 1966 to 1970. He was the Thundering Herd's starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

from 1968 to 1970. He led the Herd with a 17.5 scoring average in 1968–69. In 1990, he was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

High school

After D'Antoni graduated from

, he joined the Herd's coaching staff as the head coach of the freshman basketball team coaching his brother Mike, before becoming an assistant coach of the varsity squad. After failing to make the Baltimore Bullets, he became the head basketball coach at Socastee High School in

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

, in 1975. D'Antoni coached for 30 years at Socastee through 2005 and accumulated over 500 wins. He also founded the Beach Ball Classic, one of the most prestigious high school basketball tournaments in the country during his tenure. In 2016, he was elected into the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

NBA

In the summer of 2005, he became an assistant with the

under younger brother Mike. Shortly after Mike accepted the head coaching position with the

, D'Antoni was hired as an assistant with the Knicks. On March 15, 2012, D'Antoni and fellow assistant coach Phil Webber stepped down after Mike resigned as Knicks head coach. On November 15, 2012, he became an assistant coach with the

, also under his brother. In addition to being an assistant coach, D’Antoni also served as the head coach of the Knicks’ and Lakers’

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

teams.

Marshall

On April 24, 2014, D'Antoni was announced as the new head coach of Marshall University Thundering Herd men's basketball program, 43 years after he was an assistant with the Herd. He led the Thundering Herd to the Conference USA tournament championship game in 2017, where they were defeated by

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

, who earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. On March 10, 2018, he led Marshall back to the Conference USA championship game, this time defeating Western Kentucky and earning an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament. It was Marshall's first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1987. On March 16, 2018, the 13th-seeded Herd defeated 4th-seeded

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

81–75 in Marshall's opening game of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. It was the team's first-ever win in the tournament. In Round 2, Marshall lost 94–71 to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, finishing the season with a 25–11 record. In 2019, he led Marshall to the CIT Championship. On March 25, 2024, Marshall University Athletics announced it had parted ways with D’Antoni. Associate head coach Cornelius Jackson was announced as his successor on the same day.

Personal life

D'Antoni graduated from Marshall in 1970 with a degree in Speech and Physical Education and also earned a master's degree in Principles of Guidance from Marshall in 1972. Dan D'Antoni
. Herdzone.com. Retrieved March 11, 2017. His father, Lewis, was a high school basketball coach in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and was inducted into West Virginia's Sports Hall of Fame in May 2004. D'Antoni is the father of three sons, all of whom played collegiate basketball: Matt played at

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

; Andrew attended

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and later served 3½ years in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, rising to the rank of Major in the U.S. Army and is the current Executive Officer of the East Carolina University Army ROTC program; and Nick attended William & Mary, where he was captain of the basketball team. Dan and wife Vanessa are also parents of daughter Morgan.

Head coaching record

References

External links

NBA.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Antoni, Dan 1947 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Italian descent Basketball coaches from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia High school basketball coaches in South Carolina Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball players New York Knicks assistant coaches People from Mullens, West Virginia Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Point guards 20th-century American sportsmen