List of East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball head coaches

Last updated February 10, 2024

The following is a list of East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball head coaches. There have been 19 head coaches of the Buccaneers in their 104-season history.^[1]

East Tennessee State's current head coach is Brooks Savage. He was hired as the Buccaneers' head coach in March 2023,^[2] replacing Desmond Oliver, who was fired after the 2022–23 season.^[3]

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1	1918–1922	Charlie Reece	4	19–12	.613
2	1922–1923	Vernon McFee	1	5–5	.500
3	1923–1925	James Karl Luck	2	10–15	.400
4	1925–1931	John Robinson	6	25–40	.385
–	1931–1933^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Unknown	2	12–6	.667
5	1933–1947^{[lower-alpha 2]}	Gene McMurray	13	90–84	.517
6	1947–1948	Loyd Roberts	1	9–8	.529
7	1948–1973	Madison Brooks	25	370–263	.585
8	1973–1976	Leroy Fisher	3	23–52	.307
9	1976–1978	Sonny Smith	2	30–23	.566
10	1978–1982	Jim Halihan	4	57–53	.518
11	1982–1985	Barry Dowd	4	40–46	.465
12	1985–1990	Les Robinson	5	81–70	.536
13	1990–1996	Alan LeForce	6	108–70	.607
14	1996–2003	Ed DeChellis	7	105–93	.530
15	2003–2015	Murry Bartow	12	224–165	.576
16	2015–2020	Steve Forbes	5	130–43	.751
17	2020–2021	Jason Shay	1	13–12	.520
18	2021–2023	Desmond Oliver	2	27–37	.422
19	2023–present	Brooks Savage	0	0–0	–
Totals		19 coaches	104 seasons	1,378–1,097	.557
Records updated through end of 2022–23 season * - Denotes interim head coach. Source^[1]

↑ Records for the 1931–32 season are incomplete; only the team's final record is known. All records for the 1932–33 season are lost.
↑ East Tennessee State did not field a team for the 1943–44 season.

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The East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, United States. The team is a member of the Southern Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. ETSU's first men's soccer team was fielded in 2008. The team plays its home games at Summers-Taylor Stadium on the ETSU campus. The Buccaneers were coached by Bo Oshoniyi until he was hired away by Dartmouth College. In March 2018, ETSU announced the hiring of former University of Kentucky assistant coach David Casper. Following his dismissal in 2021, David Lilly assumed the post of head coach.

The 2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season and are in the second year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They are led by third-year head coach Carl Torbush and, for the first time, play all their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. They finished the season 4–7, 2–6 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place.

The 2019–20 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by fifth-year head coach Steve Forbes, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 30–4, 16–2 in SoCon play to finish as the SoCon regular season champions. They defeated VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford to become champions of the SoCon tournament. They earned the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 1988–89 East Tennessee State Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 1988-89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Les Robinson. The Bucs finished the season 20–11 and 7–7 in Southern Conference play to finish in fourth place. They won the Southern Conference tournament championship in Asheville to receive the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament as the No. 16 seed in the Southeast region. They lost to No. 1 seed Oklahoma, 72–71 in the first round – the second game of the tournament between No. 1 and No. 16 seeds decided by a single point. This was the first of four consecutive seasons where ETSU qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

The 1989–90 East Tennessee State Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 1989-90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Les Robinson. The Bucs finished the season 27–7 and 12–2 in Southern Conference play to finish in first place after the regular season. They won the Southern Conference tournament championship in Asheville to receive the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the Southeast region. They lost to No. 4 seed, and eventual Final Four participant, Georgia Tech, 99–83 in the first round.

Jason Shay is an American college basketball coach. He is currently an assistant coach at Wake Forest. Shay is a former men's college basketball head coach for the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. Prior to East Tennessee State, Shay held assistant coaching stints at University of North Dakota, Northwest Florida State College, University of Tennessee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Mercyhurst (Pa.) College. Throughout those stops, Shay had a streak of helping lead teams to nine consecutive postseason berths at the Division I level, including Tennessee's first-ever trip to the Elite Eight in 2010 and a Sweet 16 run at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005.

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The 2021–22 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by first-year head coach Desmond Oliver, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 7–11 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place. They lost to The Citadel in the first round of the SoCon tournament.

The 2008–09 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by head coach Murry Bartow, played their home games at the Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. After finishing 2nd in the conference regular season standings, the Buccaneers won the A-Sun tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 16 seed in the East region.

The 2022–23 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men’s basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by second-year head coach Desmond Oliver, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 8–10 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the SoCon Tournament, they lost to Western Carolina in the quarterfinals

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010–11 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2010–11 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by head coach Murry Bartow, played their home games at ETSU/Mountain States Health Alliance Athletic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Buccaneers finished 2nd in the Atlantic Sun during the regular season, but lost in the second round of the Atlantic Sun tournament after being upset by sixth-seeded North Florida.

Brooks T. Savage is an American men's college basketball head coach for the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.

The 2023–24 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men’s basketball team represents East Tennessee State University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by first-year head coach Brooks Savage, play their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference.

References

1 2 "Buccaneer Basketball Record Book" (PDF). East Tennessee State Athletics. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
↑ Borzello, Jeff (March 17, 2023). "Sources: ETSU nearing deal with Brooks Savage as next coach". ESPN.com . Retrieved March 19, 2023.
↑ Avento, Joe (March 10, 2023). "Oliver out as ETSU basketball coach". Johnson City Press. Retrieved March 19, 2023.

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[RecordsLost-4] Records for the 1931–32 season are incomplete; only the team's final record is known. All records for the 1932–33 season are lost.

[NoTeam-5] East Tennessee State did not field a team for the 1943–44 season.

[RecordBook-1] 1 2 "Buccaneer Basketball Record Book" (PDF). East Tennessee State Athletics. Retrieved March 8, 2023.

[2] Borzello, Jeff (March 17, 2023). "Sources: ETSU nearing deal with Brooks Savage as next coach". ESPN.com . Retrieved March 19, 2023.

[3] Avento, Joe (March 10, 2023). "Oliver out as ETSU basketball coach". Johnson City Press. Retrieved March 19, 2023.

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v t e East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball
Venues	ETSU/Mountain States Health Alliance Athletic Center (1977–2014) Freedom Hall Civic Center (2014–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24