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Donahue named basketball head coach

By Gaveliers, The Gavel Media Team, on April 6, 2010 11:42 PM

By Andrew Schofield, Features Editor -

Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo confirmed today that current Cornell Head Coach Steve Donahue will take the vacant coaching position at Boston College. Donahue, who has spent the last ten years building Cornell into a powerful mid-major, will replace Al Skinner, the most successful basketball coach in school history in terms of wins.

After being an assistant at the University of Pennsylvania, Donahue accepted the head coaching position at Cornell in 1990. And after six straight losing seasons to begin his tenure at Cornell, Donahue has turned Cornell into an Ivy League powerhouse. Donahue has led Cornell to Ivy League Championships and NCAA Tournament berths the last three years, carrying a 38-4 conference record. His best season came this year as he led the Big Red to a #12 seed in the NCAA Tournament followed by back-to-back upsets over Temple and Wisconsin en route to a Sweet Sixteen appearance. And during the regular season, his Cornell team nearly upset the #1-ranked Kansas in Lawrence as they led the Jayhawks until the last minute of the game. In recognition of his success, Donahue was awarded the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award this past season.

Donahue is known for his potent offensive attack that he demonstrated this year with his Cornell squad, which ranked sixteenth in offensive efficiency in the nation according to the Ken Pomeroy rankings, which adjusts for strength of schedule. His motion-based offense contrasts with the Flex offense ran by former coach Al Skinner. While the complex Flex offense relies on cuts and down screens, the motion offense utilizes player movement to exploit the quickness of the offense and neutralize the size of the defense – an offense that could reap rewards with a current BC team that relies on guards Reggie Jackson and Rakim Sanders.

Donahue will be introduced as the head coach tomorrow by DeFilippo at 3:00 PM in the Yawkey Atheltic Center followed by a 5:00 PM Meet and Greet with students in the Dustbowl outside McElroy.