Desmond Oliver (basketball)

Desmond L. Oliver (born December 4, 1969) is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach at East Tennessee State University.[1]

Desmond Oliver
Current position
TitleAssistant Coach
TeamSouth Florida
ConferenceThe American
Biographical details
Born (1969-12-04) December 4, 1969
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Playing career
1988–1989Genesee CC
1989–1992Dominican (NY)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1994–1997Niagara (assistant)
1997–1998Texas A&M (assistant)
1998–2000Cornell (assistant)
2000–2001St. Bonaventure (assistant)
2001–2004Rhode Island (assistant)
2004–2009Georgia (assistant)
2009–2010Canisius (assistant)
2010–2015Charlotte (assistant)
2015–2021Tennessee (assistant)
2021–2023East Tennessee State
2023–presentSouth Florida (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall27–37 (.422)

Playing career

Oliver played collegiately for one season at Genesee Community College under Bill Van Gundy, the father of Jeff and Stan, before transferring to Dominican College in New York, where he served as a team captain.[2]

Coaching career

In 1994, Oliver began his college coaching career as an assistant at Niagara where he stayed until 1997 before taking an assistant coaching position under Tony Barone at Texas A&M.[3] Oliver would return to New York with stops at Cornell and St. Bonaventure before joining Bonnies' head coach Jim Baron at Rhode Island where he'd stay as an assistant from 2001 to 2004.[3][4] From 2004 to 2009, Oliver was an assistant under Dennis Felton at Georgia and the Bulldogs' 11th place squad that won the 2008 SEC tournament title and the auto bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament.

After his time at Georgia, Oliver briefly served as an assistant coach at Canisius before a five-year stint as an assistant at Charlotte.[5][6] In 2015, Oliver moved on to Tennessee to join Rick Barnes, where he would earn a reputation as one of the top recruiters in college basketball.[7] While with the Volunteers, Oliver was on staff for a SEC regular season title in 2017–18 and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2019.[3]

On April 5, 2021 Oliver was named the 18th head coach in East Tennessee State basketball history.[1] In his first season at ETSU, Oliver led a young Buccaneer team to a 15-17 record, which was highlighted by winning the inaugural Naples Invitational.[8] The Buccaneers went 12-20 in Oliver's second season, where nine of the losses were decided by 4 points or less. After two seasons, Oliver was dismissed from East Tennessee State on March 10, 2023.[9]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
East Tennessee State Buccaneers (Southern Conference) (2021–2023)
2021–22 East Tennessee State 15–177–118th
2022–23 East Tennessee State 12–208–10T–5th
East Tennessee State: 27–37 (.422)15–21 (.417)
Total:27–37 (.422)

      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. "Desmond Oliver Named ETSU Men's Basketball Head Coach". East Tennessee State Athletics. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  2. Sullivan, Jerry. "Ace recruiter Oliver is ready for that first head job". WIVB.com.
  3. "Desmond Oliver - Men's Basketball Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics". University of Tennessee Athletics.
  4. "Desmond Oliver - Assistant Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches - Cornell University Athletics". Cornell University Athletics.
  5. "Desmond Oliver Joins Men's Basketball Staff". Canisius College Athletics.
  6. "Desmond Oliver - Men's Basketball Coach - Charlotte Athletics". Charlotte Athletics.
  7. "East Tennessee State hires Desmond Oliver to replace men's basketball coach who departed after kneeling controversy". ESPN. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  8. "ETSU downs Kent State to claim inaugural Naples Invitational Championship". East Tennessee State Athletics. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  9. "ETSU to Part Ways with Head Men's Basketball Coach Desmond Oliver". East Tennessee State Athletics. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
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