Clemson Sees Key Coach Poached for Head Coaching Job

The Clemson Tigers lose a key member of the staff that's helped their defense become one of the best in the conference

Clemson loses a member of the coaching staff to a head coaching opportunity | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers see a key coach depart for a head coaching position. According to Jon Rothstein, Eastern Michigan has hired Billy Donlon to take the helm.

Source: Eastern Michigan has hired Clemson’s Billy Donlon as its next head basketball coach.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 17, 2026

This will be his third head coaching job. He got his first opportunity has the head coach of Wright State in the Horizon League from 2010 to 2016. Before that, he served under Brownell as well as an associate head coach.

There, he coached the Raiders to a 109–94 record with an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2012-13 and an appearance in the CIT in 2013-14. In 2013, he was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year.

After that, he was the head coach at Kansas City from 2019 to 2022. He finished with a 46–39 record and saw no postseason action. Following that stint, he rejoined Brownell's staff, this time at Clemson.

In between his stints as a head coach, he held two positions in the Big Ten. He first was an assistant at Michigan for two seasons before spending three at Northwestern.

His primary focus was on the defense and the guard position. The results showed. Defensively, Clemson ranked second in the ACC and 17th nationally in 2024-25 (65.8 points allowed per game), while finishing third in the league in steals per game (7.4), turnovers forced per game (13.29) and 3-point defense (31.9 percent).

Donlon spent the past four seasons at Clemson as its associate head coach under Brad Brownell. With Donlon on the staff, Clemson has seen its greatest level of success. Through the first three seasons, the Tigers won 74 games and posted a .717 winning percentage in ACC play. Both are the best in program history.

Clemson advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 44 years during the 2023-24 season. During that run, the Tigers defense held opponents to just 14-of-75 from three (18.7%).

Clemson heads to Tampa for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It's their third straight appearance in March Madness. They're a No. 8 seed set to face No. 9 seed Iowa in the South Region. Tip-off is set for 6:50 p.m. EDT at Benchmark International Arena.

Last season, they were bounced in the first round, losing to 69-67 to McNeese in upset fashion.