Roy Danforth

Roy Danforth (born 1936)

Teams coached: Syracuse Orange, Tulane Green Wave
Syracuse record: 148-71 (.676)
Tulane record: 45-90 (.333)
Overall record: 193-161 (.545)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  4  (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
  • NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: (1973, 1975)
  • NCAA Tournament Final Four:  1  (1975)
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  2  (1971, 1972)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1976-1981 Tulane
1968-1976 Syracuse
1964-1968 Syracuse (asst)
1963-1964 Pearl River JC

Roy Danforth Facts

  • Roy Danforth
  • Born 1936
  • Hometown: Summitville, Indiana
  • Alma Mater: University of Southern Mississippi (BA, 1962)
  • After graduating from Summitville HS (IN), spent three years in the US Army (part of the 11th Airborne division)
    • Inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004
  • Played for head coach Fred Lewis at Southern Miss; a four-year starter, Danforth served as team captain as a senior
  • First coaching job was as the head coach at Pearl River JC (MS)
  • Joined Lewis at Syracuse in 1964, serving as an assistant and as freshman head coach for four seasons
  • Elevated to head coach at Syracuse in 1968, serving in that role for eight seasons
    • Won 148 games, reaching four NCAA Tournaments with two Sweet Sixteen appearances and one Final Four (1975)
    • Credited with building Syracuse into a nationally relevant program, turning the program over in 1976 to his assistant Jim Boeheim (still serving as Syracuse head coach as of 2019)
  • Spent five years as the head coach at Tulane, but failed to reach the same levels of success during his tenure
  • Stopped coaching in 1981 and became the assistant athletic director at Tulane
  • Continued his administrative career in 1987, hired as the athletic director at Fairleigh Dickinson
    • Named NEC Athletic Director of the Year six times in the eight years he held that position
    • Inducted into the Fairleigh Dickinson Athletic Hall of Fame

Roy Danforth Coaching Tree

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only