Former Penn men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue will take over as head coach of rival Saint Joseph’s, the program announced Wednesday.
Donahue was fired from Penn in March and hired as an assistant coach for the Hawks in May. He replaces Billy Lange — who served as head coach for St. Joe’s for six years — after Lange accepted a job in the New York Knicks front office.
Donahue has reportedly received a multi-year contract to become the program’s 16th head coach. In a press release, St. Joe’s wrote that Donahue “will lead the Hawks into the 2025-2026 season and beyond.”
“I am thrilled to welcome Coach Donahue as our new head coach. He is deeply connected to Hawk Hill and is a proven leader,” St. Joe’s Vice President and Director of Athletics Jill Bodensteiner said in the release. “I have every confidence in him and his commitment to our values and mission.”
“Coach Donahue has had an incredible impact on collegiate basketball up and down the East Coast and on the national stage,” Bodensteiner added. “He is a rare and accomplished coach who is as respected for his basketball acumen as he is for his character.”
Donahue will return to the Palestra later this year when the Hawks take on the Quakers in Big 5 pod play on Nov. 17. Previously, that return was expected to be in an assistant role. Now, Donahue will go head-to-head with his replacement at Penn: new coach Fran McCaffery.
Donahue coached the Quakers for nine seasons from 2015-24 — part of a larger coaching legacy in the City of Brotherly Love. He began his college coaching career as an assistant at Philadelphia (now Jefferson) in 1988 before joining Fran Dunphy’s staff at Penn in 1990. After 10 years under Dunphy, he then served as coach at Cornell and Boston College before returning to Penn in 2015.
Donahue led the Quakers to an Ivy League title in the 2017-18 season and coached two conference players of the year — AJ Brodeur in 2020 and Jordan Dingle in 2023.
When Donahue was hired as St. Joe’s associate head coach earlier this offseason, it came with a heavy endorsement from Lange.
“In the last 30 years, there is not a single person I have talked more with about basketball philosophies, the challenge of head coaching leadership, and the pursuit of daily improvement than Steve,” Lange said in a release. “I have been blessed to work alongside some great basketball minds, and I hold Steve in the highest regard as a coach.”
Donahue also expressed excitement at the prospect of coaching with Lange.
“I get to work alongside Coach Lange — someone I truly respect and can learn a great deal from,” Donahue said in the same release.
Now, Donahue takes the reins of the program. Last season, the Hawks finished 22-13 overall, including an 86-69 win over Donahue’s Quakers.
Lange, who was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2013-19, makes his move relatively late in the offseason timeline. St. Joe’s is set to tip off its season against Lafayette in less than two months.
However, with their head coach out of the picture, the Hawks will be forced to implement a new style of play and adjust to a new voice at the helm.
“We are athletic, deep and talented; we have the people, culture and first-class facilities,” Donahue said of his team in a press release about his promotion. “We have everything we need to win.”
