Clemson basketball assistant leaves for head coaching job in MAC
A Clemson men’s basketball assistant coach is leaving the Tigers for a head coaching opportunity.
Tigers associate head coach Billy Donlon will be the next coach at Eastern Michigan, the school announced Tuesday. Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman was the first to report the news earlier Tuesday. Donlon will replace Stan Heath, who was fired earlier this month after a fifth straight losing season.
Donlon will coach in Clemson’s opening NCAA Tournament game Friday, according to EMU, which said in a news release that the longtime Brad Brownell assistant would be introduced in an on-campus news conference “soon.”
It’s unclear if Donlon would stay with Clemson past its first-round game. The No. 8 seeded Tigers play No. 9 Iowa in Tampa, Florida on Friday (6:50 p.m., TNT). With a win, they’d likely play No. 1 seed Florida Sunday.
Donlon said in a news release he was “humbled and honored” to take the job at Eastern Michigan, which competes in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and hasn’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 1998.
EMU, based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, was 10-21 and 4-14 in the MAC this season. Athletic director Scott Wetherbee said the school conducted a national search for its next basketball coach and Donlon “quickly separated himself.”
“His experience in elite conferences, along with his ability to build a strong culture and connect with student-athletes, made him the clear choice to lead our program,” Wetherbee said in a release.
Billy Donlon’s coaching history, time at Clemson
This will be Donlon’s third head coaching opportunity. He was head coach at Wright State in Ohio from 2010-16 and University of Missouri-Kansas City from 2019-22. Donlon took over at Wright State after Brownell became coach at Clemson.
He has a career record of 155-133 (.538) across nine Division I seasons.
Donlon has been on Brownell’s Clemson staff for four seasons with his primary responsibilities being the Tigers’ defense and working with the guards.
He was also an assistant for Brownell at UNC-Wilmington and Wright State after first crossing over with Brownell in the late 1990s at UNCW, when Brownell was an assistant coach and Donlon was a standout point guard for the Seahawks.
Donlon’s most recent stint under Brownell has coincided with one of the best stretches in Clemson history. The Tigers’ 98 wins since the start of the 2022-23 are also the most in a four-year span in program history.
“I am so grateful we got to spend these last four years together,” Brownell said of Donlon in EMU’s news release. “He has had a hand in every area of the program and certainly been an integral part of our success. Billy is an outstanding coach, recruiter and mentor and will do a great job at Eastern Michigan.”
As Brownell’s top assistant coach, Donlon was making $530,000 annually at Clemson, according to a copy of his most recent contract obtained by The State via public records request. That’s more than EMU’s last coach, Heath, made in 2025-26. Heath made “close to $400,000,” per the Detroit News.
This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 2:34 PM.
