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Instead of dragging out the inevitable, Penn fired Steve Donahue on Monday after 10 years as head coach and two consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Ivy League. Donahue ends his time at Penn with a record of 131-130.
The Quakers have retained Georgia-based executive search firm Parker Executive Search to find Donahue’s replacement. It seems likely that the next Penn head coach will be one of the names below, conveniently grouped into a handful of tiers for debate and discussion:
Penn basketball leads off its season this Friday against Robert Morris, a team coached by none other than former Quakers guard Andy Toole (“03). Since winning two Ivy titles as a player at Penn, Toole’s career has taken off. After time as an assistant at both Lafayette and Robert Morris, Toole took over and has already eclipsed 100 career victories at the age of 35. He also led the Colonials to an NCAA Tournament bid and a victory in the First Four.
Before his squad opens its year against the Red and Blue, Toole took some time to talk about the matchup and his time at Penn with Ivy Hoops Online. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation: