Head coach Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder talks with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at the United Center on October 25, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.
Barely 20 years ago, from 2003 to 2007, Mark Daigneault ’07 (ED) was a student basketball manager under Jim Calhoun. This April he was named 2023–24 NBA Coach of the Year. The Oklahoma City Thunder head coach led his team to a 57-25 record as they became the youngest team in NBA history to claim the No. 1 seed in either conference. The Thunder under Daigneault also became the youngest team in NBA history to win 55-plus games.
“He’s just a regular guy. A regular guy who’s killing it right now.”
@ManthonyHearst
After UConn, Daigneault worked as an assistant coach at Holy Cross, then as a graduate assistant at Florida under Billy Donovan. When Donovan became the Thunder’s head coach, he took Daigneault with him. Five years later, in 2020, Donovan asked Daigneault to go with him to the Chicago Bulls; instead, Daigneault took over as head coach of the Thunder. At the time, he was the second youngest NBA head coach (now he’s the third).
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
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