The night after Davidson‘s most famous alumni won his fourth NBA title, the program’s longtime head coach has announced his retirement. Bob McKillop is calling it a career after 33 years at the helm, a tenure that included 15 conference titles, 11 conference COY awards and 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Hired in 1989, McKillop has become an institution both at Davidson and in the larger college basketball landscape. He had previously spent one season (1978-79) as an assistant under Eddie Biedenbach at Davidson then ten years (1979-89) as head coach at Long Island Lutheran HS in his native New York.
McKillop finishes with an overall record of 634-380, by far the most wins in school history. His Wildcats’ burst onto the national scene in 2008, when a sophomore named Stephen Curry lit the college basketball world on fire and led the team to the NCAA Elite Eight. The future Hall-of-Famer and now four-time champion was under-recruited, but McKillop saw the potential and aggressively pursued Curry at Charlotte Christian School.
In the years since Curry’s ascent to NBA stardom, McKillop has proved that the 2008 run was no flash in the pan. He has led the Wildcats back to the NCAA Tournament five times since then, including three trips since joining the Atlantic 10 back in 2014. This past year, Davidson went 27-7 (15-3), winning the A-10 and earning an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. McKillop was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in what was now the final year of his career.
Davidson AD Chris Clunie also announced Friday that Bob’s son, Matt McKillop, will be the new head coach of the Wildcats after spending the last fourteen season on his father’s staff. Matt also played four seasons at Davidson, graduating in 2006 right before Curry arrived the following year. More on the promotion here.
credit to Davidson Athletics for the image
