William Joseph Donlon (born February 10, 1977) is an American college basketball coach, currently an associate head coach at Clemson University.

Billy Donlon
Current position
TitleAssociate head coach
TeamClemson
ConferenceACC
Biographical details
Born (1977-02-10) February 10, 1977 (age 47)
Northbrook, Illinois, U.S.
Playing career
1996–1999UNC Wilmington
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2000American (assistant)
2000–2001St. Peters (assistant)
2001–2006UNC Wilmington (assistant)
2006–2010Wright State (assoc. HC)
2010–2016Wright State
2016–2017Michigan (assistant)
2017–2019Northwestern (assistant)
2019–2022Kansas City
2022–presentClemson (associate HC)
Head coaching record
Overall155–133 (.538)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Horizon League Coach of the Year (2013)

Playing career

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Donlon played four years of basketball at UNC Wilmington under Jerry Wainwright, scoring 901 career points and handing out 457 assists.[1] After graduation, Donlon played professionally in France, Germany, and Ireland.

Coaching career

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Donlon started his coaching career with American and St. Peters as an assistant coach before returning to his alma mater to be an assistant coach under Brad Brownell for four seasons. He followed Brownell when he accepted the position at Wright State. When Brownell departed for the head coaching position at Clemson, Donlon was elevated to the head coach of the Raiders.[2][3]

Wright State athletic director Bob Grant said: “Coach Donlon brings not only an ability to continue what has been laid in place but also a wealth of basketball knowledge and expertise to his new position. We are confident that Billy will continue building our program and take Raider basketball to another level of success.”

On March 18, 2016, Wright State fired Donlon after 6 seasons as head coach.[4]

On May 4, 2016, Donlon was named assistant head coach for the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.[5]

On June 25, 2017, Donlon was hired as an assistant coach for the Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team, replacing Pat Baldwin, who had taken the head coaching job at Milwaukee.[6]

On March 26, 2019, Donlon was named the head coach of the UMKC men's basketball team. He replaced Kareem Richardson and is the first UMKC coach to take the position with previous head coaching experience since 2001.[7]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wright State Raiders (Horizon League) (2010–2016)
2010–11 Wright State 19–14 10–8 T5th
2011–12 Wright State 13–19 7–11 8th
2012–13 Wright State 23–13 10–6 T–3rd CBI Semifinals
2013–14 Wright State 21–15 10–6 3rd CIT Second Round
2014–15 Wright State 11–20 3–13 8th
2015–16 Wright State 22–13 13–5 T–2nd
Wright State: 109–94 (.537) 53–49 (.520)
Kansas City Roos (Western Athletic Conference) (2019–2020)
2019–20 Kansas City 16–14 8–7 4th
Kansas City Roos (Summit League) (2020–2022)
2020–21 Kansas City 11–13 7–7 T5th
2021–22 Kansas City 19–12 12–6 3rd
Kansas City: 46–39 (.541) 27–20 (.574)
Total: 155–133 (.538)

      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

References

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  1. ^ "Billy Donlon College Stats".
  2. ^ Mottram, Chris (13 April 2010). "Wright State's Brad Brownell to Replace Oliver Purnell as Clemson Coach". sbnation.com. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Wright State Raiders promote assistant Billy Donlon to Head Coach, succeeding Brad Brownell". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  4. ^ Borzello, Jeff; Goodman, Jeff (19 March 2016). "Wright State Raiders fire coach Billy Donlon". ESPN.com. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Donlon, Washington Named Assistant Coaches". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. 4 May 2016. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  6. ^ Ryan, Shannon (26 June 2017). "Northwestern hires Billy Donlon as assistant basketball coach". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  7. ^ Schiffer, Alex (29 March 2019). "Billy Donlon will draw from his Northwestern, Michigan days to build UMKC basketball". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
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