Seth Vincent Greenberg (born April 18, 1956) is an American

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 ...

broadcaster who works as an analyst for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Prior to taking the position at ESPN he was a coach for 34 years, the last 22 as a head coach. Greenberg has been the head coach at Long Beach State, the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

, and

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. He was a two-time ACC Coach of the Year.

Early life and college playing career

Seth Greenberg is one of the three sons of Marilyn and Ralph Greenberg of

Plainview, New York Plainview is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Oyster Bay (town), New York, Oyster Bay in east central Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 27,100. The Plainv ...

. Older brother Brad also became a college basketball coach. After graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview in 1974, Greenberg attended

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree prog ...

in New Jersey. Lettering for four years in

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 ...

under coach Al Lobalbo, Greenberg graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in broadcast journalism.

Coaching career

Assistant coach at Columbia, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and the University of Miami (1978–87)

From 1978 to June 1980, Greenberg was an assistant coach at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

under Buddy Mahar. Greenberg later joined Roy Chipman as an assistant coach at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

from 1980 to 1983. In that era, Pittsburgh appeared in the NCAA Tournaments of

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. For the 1983–84 season, Greenberg was an assistant on Terry Holland's

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

team that made the Final Four of the

1984 NCAA tournament The 1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 53 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1984, and ended with the champion ...

. Greenberg later worked as an assistant under Bill Foster at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

from 1985 to 1987.

Long Beach State associate head coach (1987–90)

In 1987, Greenberg became associate head coach at Long Beach State under Joe Harrington. Long Beach State appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

s of

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Long Beach State head coach (1990–96)

Long Beach State promoted Greenberg to head coach in 1990. In six seasons with Greenberg as head coach, Long Beach State went 105–70, second behind

Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Reb ...

for the most wins in the program's history. Postseason appearances during the Greenberg era included the 1992 NIT, 1993 NCAA tournament, and 1995 NCAA tournament. In the 1992–93 season, Long Beach State also had its first Top 25 ranking in 14 years.Long Beach State 49ers Index , College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
/ref> On January 25, 1993, Long Beach State upset #1

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

64–49 at

Allen Fieldhouse Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena on the University of Kansas (KU) campus in Lawrence, Kansas. It is home of the Kansas Jayhawks men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is named after Phog Allen, a former player and head coach for th ...

. Long Beach State won the Big West tournament in 1993 and 1995. While at Long Beach, Greenberg was a mentor of two successful future

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 ...

players, Lucious Harris and Bryon Russell.

South Florida (1996–2003)

Greenberg was head coach at the

from 1996 to 2003 and had a 108–100 record there. South Florida became the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

regular season champions in the 1999–00 season and made the NIT after the season. South Florida also made the 2002 NIT.

Virginia Tech (2003–12)

In nine seasons at Virginia Tech, Greenberg attained a 170–123 record. Greenberg's tenure at Virginia Tech began with the school's final season in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

before joining the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

in 2004. Following his second season at Virginia Tech that included an appearance in the 2005 NIT, Greenberg won the ACC Coach of the Year award. In 2005, he helped donate 2,400 student tickets to the NIT game against Temple. In 2008, he increased the donations to 3000 tickets for students in all three NIT games played in Cassell Coliseum. During the 2006–07 season, Greenberg led the Hokies to a 22–12 record with signature victories against #5

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

on the road and #1

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

at home in an eight-day span. The victories landed the Hokies in the AP Top 25 for the first time in over a decade, and earned their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1996. They received a #5 seed in the West bracket, but fell to

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

in the second round. Again in 2007–08, Virginia Tech had over 20 wins. Virginia Tech also made the quarterfinals of the 2008 NIT. Greenberg earned his second ACC Coach of the Year award. On January 21, 2009 the Hokies defeated #1 Wake Forest, 78–71. Wake Forest was the only remaining undefeated team in the nation at the time. Virginia Tech made each NIT from

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and had its most successful season under Greenberg in 2009–10 with a 25–9 record. On February 27, 2011 the Hokies defeated #1 Duke in Cassell Coliseum. Greenberg's tenure as Virginia Tech's head coach ended in April 2012, when Athletic Director Jim Weaver fired him at a surprise news conference. Greenberg was "completely blindsided and shocked" by Weaver's decision. Greenberg was replaced by his former assistant, James Johnson. Greenberg is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and volunteered to coach the USA Men's Basketball team at the 19th

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in July 2013.

Awards

Greenberg was inducted into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2012, and the Long Beach State Hall of Fame in 2013. In 1996 he was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jews, American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distingui ...

Broadcasting career

Greenberg is a college basketball analyst for

Head coaching record

References

External links