Bob McKillop

Bob McKillop
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Davidson
Conference Atlantic 10
Record 516–315 (.621)
Biographical details
Born (1950-07-13) July 13, 1950
Queens, New York
Playing career
1969 East Carolina
1970–1972 Hofstra
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1973–1978 Holy Trinity HS
1978–1979 Davidson (asst.)
1979–1989 Long Island Lutheran HS
1989–present Davidson
Head coaching record
Overall 516-315 (.621)
Tournaments (NCAA): 3–8 (NIT): 2–5 (CBI): 2–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
7× SoCon Tournament championship (1998, 2002, 2006–2008, 2012, 2013)
11× SoCon regular season championship (1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007–2009, 2012–2014)
13× SoCon division championship (1996–1998, 2001–2005, 2007–2009, 2012, 2013)
A10 regular season championship (2015)
Awards
NABC Coach of the Year (2008)
Clair Bee Coach of the Year (2008)
8× SoCon Coach of the Year (1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013)
A10 Coach of the Year (2015)

Robert Howard McKillop (born July 13, 1950) is an American college basketball coach and current head coach of the Davidson College Wildcats men's basketball team.

Early basketball career

Born in Queens, New York, McKillop grew up in Queens and on Long Island and played for Chaminade High School in Mineola. McKillop went on to play college ball for East Carolina University before transferring to Hofstra University. At Hofstra he was named team MVP. After graduating in 1972 with a degree in history, he was briefly signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia 76ers, but was cut.

Coaching career

He then accepted a job teaching history and coaching basketball back on Long Island at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville. There, McKillop achieved an 86–25 record. In 1978 he became an assistant coach at Davidson for one year before returning to high school ball at Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School in Brookville. McKillop compiled a record there of 182–51, winning five New York State Championships.

Head coach at Davidson

In 1989, McKillop returned to Davidson as head coach. He is the longest-tenured coach in Davidson history, and has won more games there than any coach. His 230 Southern Conference wins are more than any coach in league history. He has been the SoCon Coach of the Year seven times, has won thirteen conference division titles, seven tournament championships, and taken his team to seven NCAA tournaments and four postseason NITs. All this winning hasn't come at any academic sacrifice, as 95 per cent of his Davidson lettermen have graduated. In 2006 the Wildcats won the Southern Conference tournament and went on to face No. 2 seeded Ohio St. in the NCAA tournament. Fifteenth seeded Davidson led 29–25 at halftime before falling 70–62. On January 27, 2007, McKillop reached 300 wins with a 79–59 victory over Western Carolina in Belk Arena. On February 26, 2011 he reached 400 wins with a 78-67 victory over UNC Greensboro.

Despite the recent success of the Wildcats, 2007 promised to be a rebuilding year, as McKillop lost seven seniors, accounting for 76% of scoring. Nevertheless, Davidson finished the year with an overall record of 24–4 and 17–1 in the SoCon. They were ranked 31st in the nation by the ESPN/USA Today poll and #4 among mid-majors. In the months of December, January and February, the Wildcats lost a total of one game.

On March 3, 2007, the Wildcats won their second straight Southern Conference Tournament Championship, and third in 5 years, an accomplishment that should silence critics who claimed McKillop could not win at tournament time. Davidson defeated College of Charleston 72–65, after waltzing past Furman and UT Chattanooga in the earlier rounds. In 2007, McKillop's Wildcats represented the Southern Conference in the NCAA tournament by battling number 4 seed Maryland losing by 12 at Buffalo.

In 2008, after compiling a perfect regular season conference record, the Wildcats ran their record to three straight Southern Conference Tournament Championships, beating Elon University in the title game. They entered the NCAA tournament as a 10-seed and took down 7-seed Gonzaga, for their first NCAA Tournament win since 1969. They then won their second-round game against the 2-seed Georgetown to advance to the Sweet 16. Almost a week after beating Georgetown, McKillop and Davidson stunned the world by upsetting the 3 seed and regular season Big Ten champions Wisconsin. This win put Davidson in the Elite Eight for the first time since Lefty Driesell got them there in 1969.

The 2008 season was a testament to McKillop's recruiting prowess, as they have been carried by the shooting of Stephen Curry, who did not get a second look from most of the bigger programs.

In February 2014, Davidson named the playing surface at Davidson's on-campus arena, John M. Belk Arena, "McKillop Court"—much to McKillop's surprise.[1]

Family

McKillop and his wife, Cathy, have three children. Kerrin is a 2002 graduate of Davidson, while Matt is a 2006 Davidson graduate; he played for his father from 2003–2006, and earned four varsity letters. After assisting former Wildcat player and assistant coach Jason Zimmerman at Emory University in Atlanta, Matt has been named as an assistant coach to his father at Davidson College. The youngest McKillop, Brendan, graduated from Davidson in 2011 after a four-year career.

Coaching Tree

Several of McKillop's former assistants and players are currently head coaches or former head coaches at other schools:

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Davidson (Independent) (1989–1990)
1989–90 Davidson 4–24
Davidson (Big South Conference) (1990–1992)
1990–91 Davidson 10–19 6–8 4th
1991–92 Davidson 11–17 6–8 6th
Davidson (Southern Conference) (1992–2014)
1992–93 Davidson 14–14 10–8 5th
1993–94 Davidson 22–8 13–5 T–2nd NIT First Round
1994–95 Davidson 14–13 7–7 3rd (North)
1995–96 Davidson 25–5 14–0 1st (North) NIT First Round
1996–97 Davidson 18–10 10–4 T–1st (North)
1997–98 Davidson 20–10 13–2 T–1st (North) NCAA First Round
1998–99 Davidson 16–11 11–5 2nd (North)
1999–00 Davidson 15–13 10–6 2nd (North)
2000–01 Davidson 15–17 7–9 T–3rd (North)
2001–02 Davidson 21–10 11–5 T–1st (North) NCAA First Round
2002–03 Davidson 17–10 11–5 T–1st (North)
2003–04 Davidson 17–12 11–5 T–1st (South)
2004–05 Davidson 23–9 16–0 1st (South) NIT Second Round
2005–06 Davidson 20–11 10–5 2nd (South) NCAA First Round
2006–07 Davidson 29–5 17–1 1st (South) NCAA First Round
2007–08 Davidson 29–7 20–0 1st (South) NCAA Elite Eight
2008–09 Davidson 27–8 18–2 1st (South) NIT Second Round
2009–10 Davidson 16–15 11–7 3rd (South)
2010–11 Davidson 18–15 10–8 4th (South) CBI Quarterfinals
2011–12 Davidson 25–8 16–2 1st (South) NCAA Second Round
2012–13 Davidson 26–8 17–1 1st (South) NCAA Second Round
2013–14 Davidson 20–13 15–1 1st NIT First Round
Davidson (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2014–present)
2014–15 Davidson 24–8 14–4 1st NCAA Second Round
2015–16 Davidson 20–13 10–8 6th NIT First Round
2016–17 Davidson 0–0 0–0
Davidson: 516–315 (.621) 313–116 (.730)
Total: 516–315 (.621)

      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

References

  1. ↑ DeCourcy, Mike. Davidson surprises Bob McKillop by naming program's court after him. Sporting News, 2014-02-01.

External links

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