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Director of Student Athlete and Coach Development
Ken McDonald comes to 865 Elite as Director of Student Athlete and Coach Development. Coach will be make a major impact on all of our players and coaches on a daily basis.
McDonald’s career on the bench includes 28 years of extensive coaching experience at the collegiate, professional and international level. He has honed his leadership skills as a head coach of an NCAA Division I program as well as an NBA G League organization.
His collegiate coaching resume includes time spent in the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Sun Belt. He has been on staff for 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of NIT berths.
During McDonald’s four years on Barnes’ staff at Texas from 2004-08, the Longhorns twice advanced to the Elite Eight. Prior to that, McDonald helped Barnes’ 1996-97 Clemson squad reach the Sweet Sixteen.
All told, McDonald has coached 13 collegians who became NBA Draft picks and 21 G League performers who earned NBA call-ups.
His G League (then known as the D League) coaching career began as an assistant with the league champion Austin Spurs in 2012. In 2013, he was promoted to head coach, and he led the organization in that role from 2013-17—a run that included two Western Conference Finals appearances.
Immediately prior to his time in the NBA G League, McDonald spent four years as the head coach at Western Kentucky from 2008-12. The Hilltoppers logged a pair of 20-win campaigns under his direction and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
McDonald also has a lengthy relationship with USA Basketball. He was an assistant coach and advance scout with the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup gold-medal-winning team, and he also did advance scouting work for the men’s senior national team during the 2019 FIBA World Championships in Shanghai, China.
A 1992 graduate of Providence College, where he was a two-year basketball letterman, McDonald has a daughter, Ella Grace.