Kevin O'Neill (basketball)

Kevin James O'Neill (born January 24, 1957) is an American basketball coach with experience as the head coach of various college and National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Most recently he was the coach of the USC Trojans basketball team.

Kevin O'Neill
O'Neill in 2011 while head coach of the USC Trojans
Biographical details
Born (1957-01-24) January 24, 1957
Malone, New York, U.S.
Playing career
1976–1979McGill
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1979–1980Hammond HS
1980–1982North Country CC
1982–1983Marycrest
1983–1985Delaware (assistant)
1985–1986Tulsa (assistant)
1986–1989Arizona (assistant)
1989–1994Marquette
1994–1997Tennessee
1997–2000Northwestern
2000–2001New York Knicks (assistant)
2001–2003Detroit Pistons (assistant)
2003–2004Toronto Raptors
2004–2006Indiana Pacers (assistant)
2007–2008Arizona (interim HC)
2008–2009Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
2009–2013USC
Head coaching record
Overall215–241 (college)
33–49 (NBA)
Tournaments2–4 (NCAA Division I)
0–3 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Great Midwest regular season (1994)

O'Neill was born in Malone, New York and attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He lettered in basketball for three years in college, 1976–79, and in 1978 the McGill Redman had a school-record 28 win season and entered the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship tournament. He graduated from McGill in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in education, and later earned his master's degree in secondary education from Marycrest College in 1983, where he also served as head coach of the NAIA basketball team for the 1982–83 season.[1]

Early life

Born in Malone, New York, O'Neill grew up in nearby Chateaugay and graduated from Chateaugay Central School in 1975.

Early coaching career

O'Neill's head coaching career began with tenures at North Country Community College (Saranac Lake, New York), Marycrest College (Davenport, Iowa), Marquette, Tennessee and Northwestern. During his tenure as the Northwestern coach O'Neill is most notably remembered for a game with Indiana where the rowdy Northwestern faithful chanted "Hoosier Daddy" (a play on "Who's Your Daddy?") at opposing coach Bob Knight. Of course this did not sit well with Knight as he and O'Neill got into it during the contest. However all was settled under a practice gym basket well after the game as ESPN camera crews caught the coaches talking their issues out. He would eventually become an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy with the New York Knicks. In 2001, he joined the Detroit Pistons under head coach Rick Carlisle.

Marquette Golden Eagles

As the head coach at Marquette, O'Neill led the then-Warriors to two 20+ win seasons, two NCAA tournament appearances, and a Great Midwest Conference Championship. O'Neill played a prominent role in the 1994 Oscar-nominated documentary, Hoop Dreams.

Toronto Raptors 2003–04

The McGill University graduate returned to Canada in June 2003 as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors. His tenure was marked by inconsistency among his players, but the team was 25–25 after 50 games and in a position to return to the playoffs. However, injuries to key players resulted in the team going 8–24 to finish the season three games out of a playoff spot. On April 17, 2004, O'Neill was fired in the aftermath of a disappointing 2003–2004 season, after making some remarks which were taken to question the team's commitment to winning.[2]

Indiana Pacers

In the 2004–2005 season he was hired as an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers where he rejoined head coach Rick Carlisle.[3]

Arizona Wildcats 2007–08

On May 1, 2007 it was announced that O'Neill would replace Jim Rosborough as the assistant coach to Hall of Famer Lute Olson at the University of Arizona.[4] O'Neill was an assistant under Olson during Arizona's rise to national prominence in the 1980s, and used it as a launching board to attain his first major head coaching position at Marquette.

On November 4, 2007, Olson announced that he was taking an "indefinite leave of absence", and that O'Neill would assume Olson's head coaching duties in his absence.[5] On December 6 Olson released a statement stating that he would be extending his leave of absence for the remainder of the season. He cited personal family reasons that required his immediate attention; the next day, his attorney revealed that Olson had filed for divorce from his second wife.[6] The same day it was announced that O'Neill would remain the interim head coach for the rest of the season.[7]

Later the same month, on December 18, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood announced O'Neill as the designated successor to Olson. Olson said at the time he planned to return for the 2008–09 season; Livengood stated that O'Neill would succeed Olson upon his retirement.[8] In March 2008, Olson confirmed that he would return as head coach for the 2008–2009 season, and said that he planned to coach until his contract ended in 2011.[9] With the announcement of Olson's return, the O'Neill succession plan was thrown into question amidst media rumors of disagreement between Olson and O'Neill.[10]

Only a month later, Lute Olson announced that O'Neill would not be retained on the University of Arizona staff.[11] After spending the spring and summer preparing for the upcoming season, Olson abruptly and unexpectedly announced his permanent retirement from the Arizona basketball program in October 2008; his personal physician cited health concerns as the reason.[12]

Memphis Grizzlies 2008–09

In May 2008, O'Neill was hired as an assistant coach & special assistant to the GM [13] for the Memphis Grizzlies.

USC Trojans 2009–2013

On June 20, 2009, O'Neill was named head coach of the USC men's basketball team.[14]

O'Neill along with noted USC booster Nik Visger were involved in an altercation with an Arizona Wildcats booster at his hotel on March 10, 2011. As a result, O'Neill was suspended for the rest of the Pac-10 tournament,[15][16] which resulted in a 67–62 loss for the Trojans.[17]

O'Neill's 2012–2013 entered the season with high hopes based around a number of transfers coming in from other programs. The team started the season 3–6, fueling speculation that it would be O'Neill's last at USC. Much of this speculation was due to the fact that O'Neill sold his Los Angeles home, and relocated to Coronado, CA, which is located over 125 miles away from USC.[18]

On January 14, 2013 Pat Haden, USC Athletic Director, announced that O'Neill had been relieved of his duties at the University after beginning the season 7–10 (2–2 Pac-12).

Broadcasting career

In October 2013, O'Neill joined Fox Sports as a college basketball analyst.[19]

Head coaching record

College
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Marquette Golden Eagles (Midwestern Collegiate Conference) (1989–1991)
1989–90 Marquette 15–149–53rdNIT First Round
1990–91 Marquette 11–187–7T–5th
Marquette Golden Eagles (Great Midwest Conference) (1991–1994)
1991–92 Marquette 16–135–5T–3rd
1992–93 Marquette 20–86–4NCAA Division I First Round
1993–94 Marquette 24–910–21stNCAA Division I Sweet 16
Marquette: 86–62 (.581)37–23 (.617)
Tennessee Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) (1994–1997)
1994–95 Tennessee 11–164–126th
1995–96 Tennessee 14–156–10T–5thNIT First Round
1996–97 Tennessee 11–164–126th
Tennessee: 36–47 (.434)14–24 (.368)
Northwestern (Big Ten Conference) (1997–2000)
1997–98 Northwestern 10–173–13T–9th
1998–99 Northwestern 15–146–108thNIT First Round
1999–00 Northwestern 5–250–1611th
Northwestern: 30–56 (.349)9–39 (.188)
Arizona Wildcats (Pacific-10 Conference) (2007–2008)
2007–08 Arizona 19–15*8–107thNCAA Division I First Round
Arizona: 0–14** (.000)0–0 (–)
USC Trojans (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference) (2009–2013)
2009–10 USC 16–148–105th
2010–11 USC 19–1510–8T–4thNCAA Division I First Four
2011–12 USC 6–261–1712th
2012–13 USC 7–102–2
USC: 45–61 (.425)19–35 (.352)
Total:197–240*** (.451)

      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

* All 19 wins and 1 tournament loss from 2007–08 season was later vacated ** Final record at Arizona after vacated wins *** Takes into account vacated wins at Arizona

NBA
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
Toronto 2003–04 823349.4026th in Central———— Missed Playoffs
Career 823349.402————

References
  1. McGill grad O’Neill appointed coach of USC Trojans, McGill University, June 21, 2009, accessed April 29, 2013.
  2. "Toronto sack O'Neill, bbc.co.uk, April 17, 2004, accessed April 21, 2007.
  3. "The Grizzlies' defensive guru: Coach Kevin O'Neill : Grizzlies : Memphis Commercial Appeal". Archived from the original on October 5, 2008.
  4. "O'Neill replaces Rosborough on Olson's staff". ESPN.com. May 1, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  5. "Olson will take indefinite leave of absence due to personal matter". ESPN.com. November 4, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  6. "Already on leave of absence, Arizona's Olson getting divorced". ESPN.com. December 8, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  7. "Olson, citing personal reasons, won't return this year". ESPN.com. December 7, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  8. "Arizona makes it official: O'Neill to take over when Olson retires as coach". ESPN.com. December 18, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  9. "Olson to coach Arizona next season". ESPN.com. March 10, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
  10. "Olson participates in Wildcats' senior day ceremony, remains silent". ESPN.com. March 2, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
  11. "In first meeting with media, Olson says O'Neill won't remain on Arizona staff". ESPN.com. April 2, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  12. "Olson retires after 25 seasons, four Final Fours at Arizona". ESPN.com. October 24, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  13. "General Managers Rumors".
  14. "O'Neill replaces Floyd as Trojans coach". ESPN.com. June 21, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  15. "Kevin O'Neill (Baloncesto) - Copro".
  16. Baxter Holmes, USC basketball: Kevin O'Neill suspended for the rest of the Pac-10 tournament, Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2011
  17. "USC vs. Arizona - Game Recap - March 11, 2011 - ESPN".
  18. Ted Miller, http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/usc/post/_/id/13643/coach-kevin-oneill-moves-to-san-diego Coach Kevin O'Neill moves to San Diego, August 14, 2012
  19. "EX-USC Basketball Coach Kevin O'Neill Hired By Fox Sports". Annenberg Media Center. October 28, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
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