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Courtney, Bill
Bill Courtney
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Bill Courtney joined the coaching staff in June 2017 and completed his second season as an assistant coach in 2018-19. Courtney is working under Dave Leitao for the second time as he was an assistant coach at Virginia from 2006-09.
In his two seasons with the program the Blue Demons have totaled the most victories and made the first postseason appearance since the 2006-07 season. Additionally, the staff put together a top 25 recruiting class that arrives on campus starting with the 2019-20 season.
The 2018-19 team posted 19 victories and advanced to the finals of the College Basketball Invitational while Paul Reed was named the BIG EAST's Most Improved Player and Max Strus earned second team All-BIG EAST honors. Other highlights of the 2018-19 season were 16 home victories and a decisive road win at No. 24/23 St. John's. The 16 home wins marked just the fifth season in program history that a DePaul team won 16 or more home games.
Most recently, Courtney was head coach at Cornell from 2010-16 after working as an assistant coach from 1995-2010. He was a member of Leitao's staff at Virginia from 2006-09 that saw the Cavaliers win the 2007 ACC title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia knocked off top 10 teams Arizona and Duke in 2006-07 after being picked to finish eighth in the league in the preseason poll.
In addition to the NCAA appearance with Leitao at Virginia, Courtney compiled eight postseason appearances including two other NCAA Tournaments along with four NIT's and one CBI appearance with stops as an assistant at American (1995-96), Bowling Green (1996-97), George Mason (1997-2005), Providence (2005-06), Virginia (2006-09) and Virginia Tech (2009-10).
At Cornell, he tutored seven All-Ivy League selections, two Ivy Rookies of the Year, a Capital One Academic All-American and the program's all-time assist leader and led the Big Red to one of the nation's biggest turnarounds in his fifth season in 2014-15.
The Big Red improved its win total in each of his first three seasons at Cornell. His 35 wins over his first three seasons were the most by a Cornell men’s basketball coach since Scott Thompson also won 35 games from 1996-99. Only Sam MacNeil (45 from 1959-62) and Mike Dement (42 from 1986-89) won more games for the Big Red in their first three seasons since the formation of the Ivy League. Following an injury-plagued 2013-14 campaign, Courtney led the Big Red to one of the biggest improvement in the nation in 2014-15. After being picked to finish last in the preseason, the Big Red finished fifth.
An assistant coach at major conference programs Virginia Tech, Virginia and Providence, he helped both George Mason and Bowling Green to national prominence as well. During his 15-year career as an assistant, Courtney was part of teams that made eight postseason appearances (three NCAA, four NIT, one CBI), won at least a share of four conference titles (Mid-American, Colonial and ACC) and posted 15 winning seasons with eight years of 18 wins or more.
Under head coach Jim Larranaga at George Mason, Courtney was largely credited with recruiting the core of players that helped the Patriots to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. He spent eight seasons as an assistant and associate head coach (1997-2005), helping the Patriots to a pair of regular season CAA titles and four postseason bids, including trips to the NCAA tournament in 1999 and 2001. During that run, George Mason won at least 18 games five times and won 10 league games in each of his last seven years there. The 2003-04 squad set a then-school record with 23 wins.
After playing professionally for the Philadelphia Spirit of the United States Basketball League (USBL) and for the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA Summer League team in 1992, Courtney headed overseas for two years to play in Hong Kong. He earned the league's most valuable player award and collected the 1993 Asian All-Star game MVP Award. While pursuing his playing aspirations prior to breaking into college coaching, Courtney was an assistant basketball coach at James Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va. (1992-94) and at Thomas Jefferson Science & Technology School in Alexandria, Va. (1994-95).
Courtney earned a pair of first-team All-Patriot League accolades during his junior and senior seasons at Bucknell University, serving as team captain both years. Courtney set the school's single-season scoring record of 619 points as a junior and graduated with 1,499 points, a mark that still ranks among the top 10 all-time at the school. He still owns Bucknell records for career free throws made (400) and most 20-point games in a season (16 in 1990-91). He scored 31 points and had six assists and five rebounds against the Big Red as a senior, helping Bucknell to a 98-96 victory in Lewisburg. That came a year after he scored a game-high 21 points with four rebounds and four assists in a 93-85 Big Red victory at Barton Hall.
Courtney graduated in 1992 with a degree in education and was named to the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame in October of 2007.
Courtney and his wife, Gina, have two sons, Billy and Derek.
In his two seasons with the program the Blue Demons have totaled the most victories and made the first postseason appearance since the 2006-07 season. Additionally, the staff put together a top 25 recruiting class that arrives on campus starting with the 2019-20 season.
The 2018-19 team posted 19 victories and advanced to the finals of the College Basketball Invitational while Paul Reed was named the BIG EAST's Most Improved Player and Max Strus earned second team All-BIG EAST honors. Other highlights of the 2018-19 season were 16 home victories and a decisive road win at No. 24/23 St. John's. The 16 home wins marked just the fifth season in program history that a DePaul team won 16 or more home games.
Most recently, Courtney was head coach at Cornell from 2010-16 after working as an assistant coach from 1995-2010. He was a member of Leitao's staff at Virginia from 2006-09 that saw the Cavaliers win the 2007 ACC title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia knocked off top 10 teams Arizona and Duke in 2006-07 after being picked to finish eighth in the league in the preseason poll.
In addition to the NCAA appearance with Leitao at Virginia, Courtney compiled eight postseason appearances including two other NCAA Tournaments along with four NIT's and one CBI appearance with stops as an assistant at American (1995-96), Bowling Green (1996-97), George Mason (1997-2005), Providence (2005-06), Virginia (2006-09) and Virginia Tech (2009-10).
At Cornell, he tutored seven All-Ivy League selections, two Ivy Rookies of the Year, a Capital One Academic All-American and the program's all-time assist leader and led the Big Red to one of the nation's biggest turnarounds in his fifth season in 2014-15.
The Big Red improved its win total in each of his first three seasons at Cornell. His 35 wins over his first three seasons were the most by a Cornell men’s basketball coach since Scott Thompson also won 35 games from 1996-99. Only Sam MacNeil (45 from 1959-62) and Mike Dement (42 from 1986-89) won more games for the Big Red in their first three seasons since the formation of the Ivy League. Following an injury-plagued 2013-14 campaign, Courtney led the Big Red to one of the biggest improvement in the nation in 2014-15. After being picked to finish last in the preseason, the Big Red finished fifth.
An assistant coach at major conference programs Virginia Tech, Virginia and Providence, he helped both George Mason and Bowling Green to national prominence as well. During his 15-year career as an assistant, Courtney was part of teams that made eight postseason appearances (three NCAA, four NIT, one CBI), won at least a share of four conference titles (Mid-American, Colonial and ACC) and posted 15 winning seasons with eight years of 18 wins or more.
Under head coach Jim Larranaga at George Mason, Courtney was largely credited with recruiting the core of players that helped the Patriots to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. He spent eight seasons as an assistant and associate head coach (1997-2005), helping the Patriots to a pair of regular season CAA titles and four postseason bids, including trips to the NCAA tournament in 1999 and 2001. During that run, George Mason won at least 18 games five times and won 10 league games in each of his last seven years there. The 2003-04 squad set a then-school record with 23 wins.
After playing professionally for the Philadelphia Spirit of the United States Basketball League (USBL) and for the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA Summer League team in 1992, Courtney headed overseas for two years to play in Hong Kong. He earned the league's most valuable player award and collected the 1993 Asian All-Star game MVP Award. While pursuing his playing aspirations prior to breaking into college coaching, Courtney was an assistant basketball coach at James Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va. (1992-94) and at Thomas Jefferson Science & Technology School in Alexandria, Va. (1994-95).
Courtney earned a pair of first-team All-Patriot League accolades during his junior and senior seasons at Bucknell University, serving as team captain both years. Courtney set the school's single-season scoring record of 619 points as a junior and graduated with 1,499 points, a mark that still ranks among the top 10 all-time at the school. He still owns Bucknell records for career free throws made (400) and most 20-point games in a season (16 in 1990-91). He scored 31 points and had six assists and five rebounds against the Big Red as a senior, helping Bucknell to a 98-96 victory in Lewisburg. That came a year after he scored a game-high 21 points with four rebounds and four assists in a 93-85 Big Red victory at Barton Hall.
Courtney graduated in 1992 with a degree in education and was named to the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame in October of 2007.
Courtney and his wife, Gina, have two sons, Billy and Derek.
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