Thursday, April 24, 2014

Marshall Basketball: Dan D'Antoni Named Head Coach

After an exhaustive search that lasted over 40 days, Marshall University finally has a new men’s basketball coach. Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick announced the hire of Los Angeles Lakers assistant Dan D’Antoni earlier today.


Dan is the older brother of Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni, who Hamrick heavily pursued during Marshall’s coaching search. Since 2005 Dan has served as an assistant under his younger sibling with the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles. Prior to his time in the NBA, D'Antoni spent 30 years as the head coach at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where he won over 500 games.

A Marshall grad and Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, D'Antoni played basketball for the Thundering Herd from 1966 to 1970, leading the team in scoring (17.5 ppg) during his junior season. He was also named 1st Team All Mid-American Conference in 1969. After graduating D'Antoni was appointed head coach of the Herd’s freshman basketball team where he coached his younger brother Mike. One year later Dan was promoted to a assistant coach position with the varsity squad. Following his time on Marshall’s coaching staff, he had a brief stint with the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets before becoming the head coach at Socastee in 1975. 

 Hamrick will formally introduce D'Antoni during a press conference tomorrow afternoon. 
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