Danny Nee

Daniel Hugh Nee (born June 18, 1945) is an American basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Ohio University from 1980 to 1986, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1986 to 2000, Robert Morris University in 2000–01, Duquesne University from 2001 to 2006, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy from 2010 to 2014, compiling a career college basketball coaching record of 461–433.

Danny Nee
Biographical details
Born (1945-06-18) June 18, 1945
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Alma materSt. Mary of the Plains College
Kansas State University
Playing career
1964–1965Marquette
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1972–1973Red Bank Regional HS
1973–1976Brick Township HS
1976–1980Notre Dame (assistant)
1980–1986Ohio
1986–2000Nebraska
2000–2001Robert Morris
2001–2006Duquesne
2008–2009Rutgers (assistant)
2009–2010Towson (assistant)
2010–2014Merchant Marine
2015–presentGateway HS (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall461–433 (college)
Tournaments1–7 (NCAA Division I)
12–5 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NIT (1996)
MAC regular season (1985)
2 MAC tournament (1983, 1985)
Big Eight tournament (1994)
Awards
2x MAC Coach of the Year (1983, 1985)
Big Eight Coach of the Year (1991)
University of Nebraska Hall of Fame

Early life

Born Daniel Hugh Nee,[1] Danny Nee grew up in his native Brooklyn, New York.[2] His father Patrick immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland.[3] "Rough is what I grew up knowing, and it's what I still know," said Nee in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 1991.[4]

Nee played high school basketball at Power Memorial Academy alongside future NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[5] After his junior year in 1963, Nee was expelled from Power Memorial for participating in a gang fight.[4]

For his senior year, Nee transferred to Fort Hamilton High School and was recruited to Marquette University by Al McGuire.[4] Nee was captain of the freshman team but dropped out of Marquette after one year.[3] In 1967, Nee enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.[3] With the Marines, Nee served in the Vietnam War and was honorably discharged in 1968.[6]

Resuming his college education in the U.S., Nee earned a bachelor's degree in English and physical education from St. Mary of the Plains College in 1971 and an M.S. in physical education from Kansas State University in 1972,[6] his master's thesis being titled Intramural programs in the Big Eight universities.[1]

Coaching career

High school and assistant in college

After earning his degrees, Nee coached high school basketball in New Jersey, first at Red Bank Regional High School from 1972 to 1973 and Brick Township High School from 1973 to 1976 before being recruited as an assistant at Notre Dame by Digger Phelps, where he would coach until hired by Ohio to his first collegiate head coaching appointment.[7]

Ohio

Nee served as head coach of the Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team for seven years (1980–1986), where he helped rebuild the program which had suffered through several losing seasons, and led the team to two MAC Tournament titles (1983 and 1985), two NCAA tournament appearances (1983 and 1985), and one National Invitation Tournament appearance (1986).[8] In 1993 he was inducted into the Kermit Blosser Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame.[9]

Nebraska

Following Nee's tenure at Ohio, he became the coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1986 to 2000. Nee took a historically lackluster Husker program to the next level, leading Nebraska to five NCAA Tournament appearances from 1991–1994 and in 1998. They won the Big Eight tournament championship in 1994. His 1996 squad won the NIT Championship.

On March 13, 2000, athletic director Bill Byrne fired Nee with three years left on Nee's contract.[10] Nee has since been inducted into the Hall of Fame at the University of Nebraska and still holds the record for most wins in school history.

After Nebraska

After Nebraska, Nee went to Robert Morris University for the 2000-2001 season. In the spring of 2001, he was named head coach of Duquesne University's Duquesne Dukes. Nee officially resigned as head coach after the season's final game on March 4, 2006.

Nee spent the next two years as a scout for the NBA's Utah Jazz. In September 2008, Nee joined Fred Hill's staff at Rutgers University as Director of Player Development.[11]

In July 2009, Towson University hired Nee as an assistant coach on Pat Kennedy's staff.[12]

Merchant Marine

On October 4, 2010, the United States Merchant Marine Academy named Nee its head men's basketball coach.[13] He was suspended for the final 12 games of the 2013-14 season for a locker room temper tantrum and subsequently fired. In four years, he managed a record that was one game over .500.[14]

Back to high school

In 2015, Nee joined the staff at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pennsylvania as an assistant coach.[5] The same year, he also became head coach of the Basketball Stars of America AAU club. He coached the South Fayette Boys Freshman basketball team from 2020-2022.[15]

Head coaching record

Nebraska was awarded a forfeit victory over Texas Tech during the 1996–97 season. Nebraska originally lost that game, 87–74. This game is not reflected in the totals below.[16] Duquesne was awarded a forfeit victory over St. Bonaventure during the 2002–03 season. Duquesne originally lost that game, 86–78. This game is not reflected in the totals below.[17]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference[18]) (1980–1986)
1980–81 Ohio 7–206–10T–7th
1981–82 Ohio 13–148–8T–4th
1982–83 Ohio 23–912–62ndNCAA Division I Round of 32
1983–84 Ohio 20–814–42nd
1984–85 Ohio 22–814–41stNCAA Division I Round of 64
1985–86 Ohio 22–814–42ndNIT First Round
Ohio: 107–67 (.615)68–36 (.654)
Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Eight Conference[19]) (1986–1996)
1986–87 Nebraska 21–127–75thNIT Third Place
1987–88 Nebraska 13–184–10T–6th
1988–89 Nebraska 17–164–107th
1989–90 Nebraska 10–183–117th
1990–91 Nebraska 26–89–53rdNCAA Division I Round of 64
1991–92 Nebraska 19–107–75thNCAA Division I Round of 64
1992–93 Nebraska 20–118–6T–2ndNCAA Division I Round of 64
1993–94 Nebraska 20–107–74thNCAA Division I Round of 64
1994–95 Nebraska 18–144–107thNIT Second Round
1995–96 Nebraska 21–144–107thNIT champion
Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 Conference[20]) (1996–2000)
1996–97 Nebraska 18–157–9T–7thNIT Quarterfinal
1997–98 Nebraska 20–1210–64thNCAA Division I Round of 64
1998–99 Nebraska 20–1310–6T–5thNIT Second Round
1999–00 Nebraska 11–194–12T–8th
Nebraska: 254–190 (.572)88–116 (.431)
Robert Morris Colonials (Northeast Conference[21]) (2000–2001)
2000–01 Robert Morris 7–227–13T–9th
Robert Morris: 7–22 (.241)7–13 (.350)
Duquesne Dukes (Atlantic 10 Conference[17]) (2001–2006)
2001–02 Duquesne 9–194–126th (West)
2002–03 Duquesne 9–213–136th (West)
2003–04 Duquesne 12–176–105th (West)
2004–05 Duquesne 8–225–11T–5th (West)
2005–06 Duquesne 3–241–1514th
Duquesne: 41–103 (.285)19–61 (.238)
Merchant Marine Mariners (Landmark Conference[22]) (2010–2014)
2010–11 Merchant Marine 14–128–64th
2011–12 Merchant Marine 12–137–7T–4th
2012–13 Merchant Marine 14–127–74th
2013–14 Merchant Marine 12–146–8T–4th
Merchant Marine: 52–51 (.505)28–28 (.500)
Total:461–433 (.516)

      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
  1. Nee, Daniel Hugh (1972). Intramural programs in the Big Eight universities (M.S.). Kansas State University.
  2. "Danny Nee". University of Nebraska Athletics. 1999. Archived from the original on April 19, 2001. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  3. Pierce, Charles P. (2000), Sports Guy, Da Capo Press, pp. 100–101, ISBN 0306810050
  4. Jenkins, Sally (February 4, 1991). "A Husker switcheroo". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  5. Gorman, Kevin (January 20, 2016). "Nee embraces 'new role' at Gateway". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  6. "Danny Nee". US Merchant Marine Academy. 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  7. Lewis, Michael (December 14, 2011). "Danny Nee: What a wonderful basketball life". USMMA. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  8. "Danny Nee". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  9. "KERMIT BLOSSER OHIO ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  10. "NU to Begin Nationwide Search for Men's Basketball Head Coach". Nebraska Athletics. March 13, 2000. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  11. RU Basketball Welcomes Nee & Winterbone to Staff
  12. Danny Nee Named To Men's Basketball Staff
  13. "USMMA Names Danny Nee New Men's Basketball Coach". Landmark Conference. October 5, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  14. "Softened by time, Danny Nee remembers Nebraska as 'greatest times' of his life".
  15. "Basketball Stars of America | Basketball Stars of America".
  16. "Final 1997 Division I Men's Basketball Statistics Report - University of Nebraska" (PDF). NCAA. p. 2. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  17. "2013-14 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Atlantic 10 Conference. 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  18. "2013-14 MAC Men's Basketball Record Book; Year-By-Year Standings" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  19. "Big Eight Conference historical standings" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  20. "2013-14 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide; Big 12 Record Book – Pages 62-86" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  21. "NEC Men's Basketball Standings (1997-2013)". Northeast Conference. 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  22. "Landmark".
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