ITHACA, N.Y. – Steve Donahue, who served as The Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell for the past 10 years, has accepted the head coaching position at Boston College. Donahue will be introduced at a press conference in Chestnut Hill, Mass. today at 4 p.m.
“Leaving Cornell is one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, both personally and professionally,” Donahue said. “I have a great love for the Cornell and Ithaca communities, and have been touched by the outpouring of support for this program during my time here. My family and I appreciate the leadership of President Skorton, Vice-President Susan Murphy and Director of Athletics Andy Noel. Their faith and trust in me has reaffirmed what I tell everyone I speak to about Cornell – that it is a special place to teach student-athletes. I also want to thank my players, past and present, for their vision in turning the program around, as well as my hard-working staff who has sacrificed much to help Cornell to this success. Cornell basketball is in a great place, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.”
“While we are all saddened to lose Steve as our head coach, we wish him and his family terrific success at Boston College,” said Andy Noel, Cornell's Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. “Under his leadership, Cornell basketball has reached unprecedented heights, and we will be looking for the same qualities in a new head coach that Steve possessed. Heartfelt thanks to Steve for his dedication and service to our athletes and community over the past decade.”
Donahue breathed life into a basketball program that had just two winning seasons in the 12 years prior to his hire, culminating in three consecutive Ivy League championships and NCAA tournament appearances. He posted a 146-138 record at Cornell and ranks third on the school's career wins list. His 78 Ivy League victories is 10th all-time in conference history and is first among Big Red coaches, while he is one of just eight coaches to win three Ancient Eight crowns.
The 2007-08 and 2009-10 NABC District Coach of the Year and the 2010 Clair Bee National Coach of the Year, Donahue has coached and/or recruited seven of the school's top 13 all-time leading scorers, two Ivy League Players of the Year, two Ivy League Defensive Players of the Year, four Ivy League Rookie of the Year players, eight NABC all-district selections, six Academic All-District picks and two Academic All-Americans.
Donahue steadily increased Cornell's basketball stature with incremental improvements, including a stretch of six consecutive years of matching or increasing the previous season's overall and Ivy League win totals, the best mark in the country. The last three years have accounted for three of the program's four 20-win seasons all-time, while Cornell has placed in the top half of the Ivy League standings for six consecutive years after doing so just three times in the previous 15.
The Big Red reached new heights in 2009-10, winning the program's third straight conference crown en route to an Ivy League-record 29 wins , including its first-ever postseason victory and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Cornell climbed as high as No. 22 nationally in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, the program's first national ranking in 59 years, and set an Ivy record for 3-pointers in a season (326). The team also set single-season school records in points (2,545), field goals (913), assists (543) and blocked shots (127). The Big Red won the MSG Holiday Festival with a victory over St. John's, Cornell's first win over a Big East school since 1969, and captured a season-opening win at Alabama, the team's first win over a school from the Southeastern Conference since 1972. Cornell went 11-1 at home and won 18 games away from home, the most among any Division I school. The most attention was given to Cornell's noble effort in a 71-66 loss at No. 1 Kansas, a game the Big Red led with under a minute to play. Cornell then shocked the college basketball world as a No. 12 seed, knocking out both fifth-seeded Temple and fourth-seeded Wisconsin by double figures to advance.
A national search for Donahue's replacement will begin immediately.
