Steve Donahue

Steve Donahue
	Donahue in 2014
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Penn
Conference	Ivy League
Record	123–111 (.526)
Biographical details
Born	May 21, 1962 (age 61)
Playing career
1980–1984	Ursinus
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984–1987	Springfield HS (PA) (assistant)
1987–1988	Monsignor Bonner HS (PA) (assistant)
1988–1990	Philadelphia (assistant)
1990–2000	Penn (assistant)
2000–2010	Cornell
2010–2014	Boston College
2015–present	Penn
Head coaching record
Overall	323–325 (.498)
Tournaments	2–4 (NCAA Division I); 1–1 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	4 Ivy League regular season (2008–2010, 2018); Ivy League tournament (2018)
Awards
	Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award (2010); 2× NABC District Coach of the Year (2008, 2010); Ivy League Coach of the Year (2018)

Last updated April 09, 2024

Steve Donahue (born May 21, 1962) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Penn Quakers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach of Boston College and Cornell.

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.

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 win over the Harvard Crimson gave Cornell the Ivy League championship for the first time since 1988 and just the second title in program history.^[1] 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, 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 for his accomplishments during the 2009–10 season.

Boston College

On April 7, 2010, Boston College announced that Donahue had been hired as the head coach of its basketball program, replacing coach Al Skinner. 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 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.^[2] 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 fired Donahue.^[3] 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."^[4] 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. 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.^[5]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Cornell Big Red (Ivy League)(2000–2010)
2000–01	Cornell	7–20	3–11	T–7th
2001–02	Cornell	5–22	2–12	7th
2002–03	Cornell	9–18	4–10	T–5th
2003–04	Cornell	11–16	6–8	T–5th
2004–05	Cornell	13–14	8–6	2nd
2005–06	Cornell	13–15	8–6	3rd
2006–07	Cornell	16–12	9–5	3rd
2007–08	Cornell	22–6	14–0	1st	NCAA Division I first round
2008–09	Cornell	21–10	11–3	1st	NCAA Division I first round
2009–10	Cornell	29–5	13–1	1st	NCAA Division I Sweet 16
Cornell:		146–138 (.514)	78–62 (.557)
Boston College Eagles (Atlantic Coast Conference)(2010–2014)
2010–11	Boston College	21–13	9–7	T–4th	NIT second round
2011–12	Boston College	9–22	4–12	T–9th
2012–13	Boston College	16–17	7–11	8th
2013–14	Boston College	8–24	4–14	13th
Boston College:		54–76 (.415)	24–44 (.353)
Penn Quakers (Ivy League)(2015–present)
2015–16	Penn	11–17	5–9	5th
2016–17	Penn	13–15	6–8	4th
2017–18	Penn	24–9	12–2	T–1st	NCAA Division I first round
2018–19	Penn	19–12	7–7	T–4th
2019–20	Penn	16–11	8–6	T–4th
2021–22	Penn	12–16	9–5	3rd
2022–23	Penn	17–13	9–5	3rd
2023–24	Penn	11–18	3–11	7th
Penn:		123–111 (.526)	59–53 (.527)
Total:		323–325 (.498)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

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References

↑ Dance Party: Cornell Claims First NCAA Tourney Bid In 20 Years CornellBigRed.com access 03-03-2008
↑ "Boston College stuns No. 1 Syracuse in OT to end unbeaten season". ESPN.com. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
↑ "Steve Donahue fired at Boston College". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
↑ "Steve Donahue Named Head Coach of Men's Basketball". www.pennathletics.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19.
↑ "Top-seeded Kansas comes alive, beats Penn 76–60 in NCAAs". ESPN.com.

External links

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[1] Dance Party: Cornell Claims First NCAA Tourney Bid In 20 Years CornellBigRed.com access 03-03-2008

[2] "Boston College stuns No. 1 Syracuse in OT to end unbeaten season". ESPN.com. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2021-06-14.

[3] "Steve Donahue fired at Boston College". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-03-11.

[4] "Steve Donahue Named Head Coach of Men's Basketball". www.pennathletics.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19.

[5] "Top-seeded Kansas comes alive, beats Penn 76–60 in NCAAs". ESPN.com.

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