Steve Donahue was introduced as the John R. Rockwell Head Coach of Men’s Basketball on March 17, 2015. He is the 20th head coach in program history.
Donahue is the only men's basketball coach in Ivy League history to lead two different Ancient Eight programs to conference championships, Cornell (2008, 2009, 2010) and Penn (2018). In addition, he is one of just eight coaches in Ancient Eight history to win 100 conference games—he finished the 2023-24 season with 137 total—and the only one among those seven to do it at two different schools (78 at Cornell, 59 at Penn).
Donahue also has led Penn to five of the six Ivy League Tournaments to date, a distinction shared only with Yale (6) and Princeton (5).
Nine of Donahue's players have earned a total of 14 All-Ivy recognitions during his time at Penn. That group includes AJ Brodeur, who was a three-time first-team All-Ivy pick by the Ancient Eight coaches, co-Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior in 2019-20, and graduated as the program's all-time scoring leader (breaking a mark that had stood since 1953.) More recently, Jordan Dingle was the 2019-20 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and, as a junior in 2022-23, earned Player of the Year honors from the Ivy League, the Philadelphia Big 5, and the ECAC after he finished the season second in the nation in points per game (23.4).
Donahue's third year at Penn was one of the more memorable in the program's illustrious history. The Quakers went 24-9 overall, the most wins since the 2001-02 team had 25. In Ivy League play, Penn went 12-2 during the regular season and clinched a share of its first Ancient Eight title since 2006-07. Following the regular season, the Red and Blue defeated Yale and then co-champion Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament to earn the program's first NCAA Tournament bid since 2007. The Quakers traveled to Wichita, Kan., where they fell to top-seeded Kansas, 76-60, in what amounted to a home game for the Jayhawks.
Following the season, Donahue was named Ivy League Coach of the Year, NABC District 13 Coach of the Year, and ECAC Coach of the Year.
Penn's 2018-19 season was historic in its own right. The Quakers went 4-0 in Philadelphia Big 5 play, highlighted by a win over defending NCAA champion Villanova at The Palestra and road wins at La Salle and Temple. It was Penn's first unbeaten Big 5 campaign since 2001-02 and just its second since 1973-74. Overall, the Red and Blue went 19-12 including a 7-7 Ivy mark that qualified them for the Ivy League Tournament where they lost to Harvard in the semifinal round.
Donahue’s hiring marked a return to Penn for the Delaware County native; he was an assistant coach for the Quakers under Fran Dunphy from 1990-91 until 1999-2000. During that 10-year span, Penn won six Ivy League titles including four separate undefeated conference campaigns, compiling a 182-91 overall record that included a 114-26 mark in Ivy play.
Donahue left Penn to become head coach at Cornell ahead of the 2000-01 season. He stayed in Ithaca for 10 years, gradually building the Big Red program up until the table was set for a three-year run that included a trio of Ivy League titles; a 72-21 overall record that included a 38-4 Ivy mark; and three NCAA Tournament appearances that included a run to the Sweet 16 in 2010. Donahue was the Clair Bee National Coach of the Year and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 4 Coach of the Year in 2009-10; and the NABC District 4 Coach of the Year and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District II Coach of the Year in 2007-08, when his team went 14-0 in Ivy League play to become just the third program in Ancient Eight history to achieve an unbeaten conference season (also Penn and Princeton).
While at Cornell, Donahue coached and/or recruited seven of the school’s top 13 all-time leading scorers; two Ivy League Player of the Year selections; four Ivy League Rookie of the Year selections; a two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year; eight NABC All-District selections; six Academic All-District players; and two Academic All-Americans.
Following that Sweet 16 campaign, Donahue left Cornell to become head coach at Boston College. He spent four years at The Heights, going 21-13 his first season and getting the Eagles to the NIT. In 2012-13, he boasted the consensus ACC Rookie of the Year in Olivier Hanlan.
During the 2014-15 college basketball season, Donahue was a regular analyst on college basketball broadcasts for ESPN and FOX.
Prior to his arrival at Penn for the 1990-91 season, Donahue was an assistant under legendary coach Herb Magee at Philadelphia University for two seasons and helped the Rams to a pair of 20-win seasons and the NCAA Division II Tournament. Before that, Donahue was as an assistant for current Lafayette head coach Fran O’Hanlon at Monsignor Bonner High School, helping to guide Bonner to the Philadelphia Catholic League title. He began his coaching career at Springfield (Pa.) High School.
Donahue is a 1984 Ursinus College graduate, where he was a four-year letterman in both basketball and baseball for the Bears and captain of the basketball team as a senior. His freshman season, Donahue helped the basketball team finish 23-8 and advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament semifinal round. His sophomore year, the Bears were NCAA quarterfinalists.
Donahue and his wife, Pamela, have four children: Taylor, Matthew, Katie—a member of Penn’s Class of 2024—and Jack.
