Brian McDonald has spent more than a decade on the Northeastern coaching staff after four years as one of the Huskies’ leaders on the court. McDonald works with the guards, assists with recruiting, and handles the assigned day-to-day responsibilities of the program. He was named to Under Armour's 30-under-30 Team, presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, in 2016.
Since McDonald joined the coaching staff in 2010-11, the Huskies have made two NCAA tournaments (2015 and '19) and became the fifth program in CAA history to make three consecutive CAA title games (2018, '19, '20). Northeastern has won five CAA championships over the last 11 seasons, including three regular-season titles (2013, '15, '18) and won a CAA-best 115 games over the last 12 years.
Under McDonald's tutelage, point guard TJ Williams earned All-American honorable mention honors in 2017 and point guard Tyson Walker earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team after being named CAA Rookie of the Year a CAA-best four times in 2019-20. McDonald has worked with seven players that have earned All-CAA first-team accolades and four more that earned second or third team honors. Most recently, Jordan Roland won the CAA scoring title in 2019-20 en route to earning New England Player of the Year. He broke the single-season school record with 99 3-pointers in 2018-19, and scored 722 points during his final season, second only to the late great Reggie Lewis' 748 during the 1984-85 season.
McDonald's impact on and off the court helped the Huskies to a share of the CAA regular-season title and a first-ever CAA tournament championship title in 2014-15. The Huskies made their return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 24 years under the tutelage of McDonald.
The assistant coach, who has now been a Husky for over a decade, helped a pair of guards in Jonathan Lee and Joel Smith into professional careers, saw the development of David Walker into a record-breaking 3-point shooter, and mentored two outstanding student-athletes including Northeastern's first-ever Dean Ehlers award winner Lee and two-time Dean Ehlers award winner Caleb Donnelly.
A native of Southbury, Conn., McDonald walked onto the team in 2006 and quickly gained the admiration of his coaches and fellow players for his hard work, determination and commitment to personal development. He appeared in 38 career games for the Huskies and helped lead the team to back-to-back postseason appearances in 2009 and '10. He was a CAA All-Academic honorable mention in 2010 and was named one of Northeastern’s 100 Most Influential Seniors.
McDonald earned his bachelor’s degree in new venture management and finance from Northeastern in 2010, and earned his MBA from Northeastern in 2012.
