Dwayne Killings (born April 4, 1981) is an American basketball player and current head coach for the Albany Great Danes men's basketball team.[1]

Dwayne Killings
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamAlbany
ConferenceAmerica East
Record34–60 (.362)
Biographical details
Born (1981-04-04) April 4, 1981 (age 43)
Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
Playing career
1999–2001UMass
2001–2003Hampton
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2006Charlotte Hornets (special asst.)
2010–2011Boston University (assistant)
2011–2016Temple (assistant)
2016–2018Connecticut (assistant)
2018–2021Marquette (asst./associate HC)
2021–presentAlbany
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2003–2006Charlotte Hornets (VC)
2006–2009Temple (asst. DBO)
2009–2010NBA D-League (admin)
Head coaching record
Overall34–60 (.362)

Playing career

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Killings was a walk-on player at UMass from 1999 to 2001, before transferring to Hampton University for his final two years of college.[2]

Coaching career

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Killings began coaching right after graduating from college, joining the staff of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats as a special assistant and video coordinator.[3] In 2006, he became the assistant director of basketball operators at Temple. Following three years with the Owls, Killings started working in the NBA D-League monitoring player development and progress. He began his first job as an assistant coach for college basketball in 2010 at Boston University, where he helped lead the team to a conference championship and an NCAA tournament appearance.[4] In 2011, Killings returned to Temple, this time as an assistant coach helping to lead the team to two regular season conference titles and three NCAA tournament bids. In 2016, Killings was named an assistant coach at Connecticut.[5][6][2][7] However, after two years on the staff, Killings was let go by Connecticut after the firing of head coach Kevin Ollie in March 2018. A few weeks later, on April 12, it was announced that Killings was hired as an assistant at Marquette.[8]

On March 17, 2021, Killings was named the 16th head coach in Albany basketball history, replacing Will Brown.[1][9] He finished 13–18 in his first season, earning sixth place in the America East Conference.[10]

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On March 28, 2022, it was revealed that Killings had been put on leave for the several weeks as Albany investigated an incident where Killings allegedly made incidental contact with a player of his before a game.[11] On April 2, Killings was suspended five games and fined $25,000 by Albany. He claimed the incident occurred in a pregame hype circle in November.[12] In November 2022, Killings was sued by former player Luke Fizulich, who alleged that Killings "violently and viciously grabbed him, threw him up against a locker and struck him in the face, drawing blood."[13] In January 2023, Killings was charged with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault against Fizulich in the state of Kentucky; he pled not guilty.[14][15] In March 2023, the court resolved the issue by planning to drop the charge in a year if Killings completed a class in "correctional thinking".[16]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Albany Great Danes (America East) (2021–present)
2021–22 Albany 13–18 9–9 6th
2022–23 Albany 8–23 3–13 9th
2023–24 Albany 13–19 5–11 8th
Albany: 34–60 (.362) 17–33 (.340)
Total: 34–60 (.362)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ a b "UAlbany Names Dwayne Killings Head Men's Basketball Coach". University at Albany Great Danes. September 19, 2023.
  2. ^ a b McGrath, Shawn (July 6, 2016). "Kevin Ollie Hires Dwayne Killings as Assistant Coach". The UConn Blog.
  3. ^ "Dwayne Killings - Men's Basketball Coach". Temple University Athletics.
  4. ^ "Dwayne Killings - Men's Basketball Coach". Boston University Athletics.
  5. ^ "UCONNHUSKIES.COM :: Dwayne Killings Joins Men's Basketball Coaching Staff :: University of Connecticut Huskies Official Athletic Site :: Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "UCONNHUSKIES.COM :: Dwayne Killings Bio :: University of Connecticut Huskies Official Athletic Site :: Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on July 18, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  7. ^ "UConn makes a Killings with assistant coach hire". July 6, 2016.
  8. ^ "Dwayne Killings Named Assistant Coach at Marquette". GoMarquette. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  9. ^ Steele, Ben. "Marquette associate head coach Dwayne Killings will be hired by Albany". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  10. ^ Scott, Jelani (March 28, 2022). "Albany HC Dwayne Killings Reportedly Under Investigation for Striking Player". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  11. ^ Rubel, Abigail (March 28, 2022). "UAlbany basketball coach Dwayne Killings faces investigation into incident in November". Times Union. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  12. ^ "UAlbany keeps men's basketball coach, but Dwayne Killings fined $25,000, suspended five games". WAMC. April 2, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Shinder, Adam (November 16, 2022). "Former UAlbany men's basketball player Fizulich sues coach Killings, athletic director Benson, university". The Daily Gazette. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Rubel, Abigail (January 21, 2023). "UAlbany men's basketball coach Dwayne Killings to face assault charge in Kentucky court". Times Union. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  15. ^ Gorenstein, Ben (January 23, 2023). "UAlbany Coach Dwayne Killings pleads not guilty to assaulting player in Kentucky". WNYT.com NewsChannel 13. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  16. ^ MacAdam, Mike (March 20, 2023). "Assault charge against UAlbany men's basketball coach Dwayne Killings resolved". The Daily Gazette. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
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