PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saint Joseph’s basketball has promoted Steve Donahue to head coach after Billy Lange decided to take a front office job with the New York Knicks.
"This is a remarkable moment for me personally and professionally. To lead a program of this tradition, in this city, with this fan base is an incredible privilege," Donahue said.
Donahue joined the program in May as an associate coach after nine seasons as a coach at Penn. He was Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2017-2018, when he led the Quakers to the NCAA Tournament. He had previously been the coach at Boston College and Cornell. He has a career record of 331-344 and led Cornell to three NCAA Tournament berths.
“I’ve long admired St. Joe’s for its legacy, tradition and dedicated fan base,” Donahue said in a statement. “But nothing prepared me for what I saw when I joined the team. We are athletic, deep and talented; we have the people, culture and first-class facilities. We have everything we need to win.”
In six seasons under Lange, St. Joe’s earned consecutive Big 5 Classic titles and a pair of national postseason berths. The 2024-25 Big 5 Coach of the Year led the Hawks to back-to-back 20-win seasons the past two years — a first for the program since 2003-04 and 2004-05.
“Billy and I shared a vision for how to run a program in the new world of college sports,” Saint Joseph’s athletic director Jill Bodensteiner said. “He built that infrastructure from the ground up — people, culture, facilities, student-athlete development and talent. We have all of the pieces we need to be successful as Steve Donahue leads us into our next chapter of Hawks basketball.”
Donohue said his promise is simple: “I will invest in your growth as athletes, students and as young men. Together we will compete with passion, toughness and unity, honoring the tradition of those who came before us while building something even greater for the future."