Ken McDonald (basketball)

Kenneth Michael McDonald (born March 4, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach, currently working as the Director of Student-Athlete Development at the University of Tennessee. He previously served as a head coach with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League and at Western Kentucky University.

Ken McDonald
Tennessee Volunteers
PositionDirector of Student-Athlete Development
LeagueSoutheastern Conference
Personal information
Born (1970-03-04) March 4, 1970 (age 54)
Providence, Rhode Island
NationalityAmerican
Career information
College
Coaching career1992–present
Career history
As coach:
1992–1993St. Paul Revelles
1994–1998Clemson (asst.)
1998–2003Western Kentucky (asst.)
2003–2004Georgia (asst.)
2004–2008Texas (asst.)
2008–2012Western Kentucky
2012–2013Austin Toros (asst.)
2013–2017Austin Toros/Spurs
2018–2019Tulsa (asst.)
Career highlights and awards

McDonald spent from 2004 to 2008 at Texas under Rick Barnes. He previously worked as an assistant at Western Kentucky under Dennis Felton, from 1998 to 2003, helping the Hilltoppers reach the NCAA tournament during his final three seasons with the program.[1] McDonald has one daughter, Ella, born January 28, 2008.

On January 6, 2012, Western Kentucky University released McDonald from his contract, citing lackluster attendance and a 5–11 start to the 2011–12 season. The firing came after a controversial game the previous night, which allowed Louisiana–Lafayette a game-winning shot with six players on the court during overtime. The error was discovered immediately after the game. Coach McDonald and athletic director Ross Bjork contested the results at the scorer's table. However, officials declined to review the incident due to NCAA rules. He was replaced by assistant coach Ray Harper in interim, who was eventually named head coach moving forward.[2][3]

In September 2013, he was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Austin Toros.[4] On July 27, 2015, he signed a contract extension with the now Austin Spurs.[5]

On April 12, 2018, McDonald was hired as an assistant coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team, working under head coach Frank Haith.[6]

Head coaching record

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College

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt Conference) (2008–2012)
2008–09 Western Kentucky 25–8 15–3 1st (East) NCAA Second Round
2009–10 Western Kentucky 21–13 12–6 3rd (East)
2010–11 Western Kentucky 16–16 8–8 3rd (East)
2011–12 Western Kentucky 5–11 1–2 (fired)
Western Kentucky: 67–48 36–19
Total: 67–48

      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

Fired on January 6, 2012; Ray Harper finished the season as interim head coach with an 11–5 record, making Western Kentucky's cumulative record in the 2011–12 season 16–19 (7–9, 3rd in Sun Belt).[7]

NBA Development League

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
AUS 2013–14 50 19 31 .380 6th in Central Missed Playoffs
AUS 2014–15 50 32 18 .640 1st in Southwest 6 4 2 .667 Lost in D-League Semifinals
AUS 2015–16 50 30 20 .600 1st in Southwest 6 4 2 .667 Lost in D-League Semifinals
AUS 2016–17 50 25 25 .380 4th in Southwest Missed Playoffs
Career 200 106 94 .540 12 8 4 .667

References

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  1. ^ "Texas assistant McDonald replaces Horn at WKU". 6 April 2008.
  2. ^ "Ken McDonald fired as Head Men's Basketball coach, Harper to take over - College Heights Herald: Sports". wkuherald.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13.
  3. ^ "WKU loses on final possession as Louisiana-Lafayette plays six players - College Heights Herald: Sports". wkuherald.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10.
  4. ^ D-League news: Ken McDonald named head coach of Austin Toros
  5. ^ KEN McDONALD SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION
  6. ^ Hines, Kelly. "TU hires coaching veteran Ken McDonald as basketball assistant". Tulsa World. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  7. ^ "2011-12 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results".
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