Clemson Assistant Gets Head Coaching Job Elsewhere
By: Gavin Oliver March 17, 2026

A key Clemson men’s basketball assistant coach has landed the head coaching job at a Mid-American Conference program.  

The Clemson Insider has confirmed that Billy Donlon has been hired by Eastern Michigan as its next head basketball coach.

Donlon has played a major role in Clemson’s success over the last few years, helping the Tigers make the NCAA tournament for three straight seasons.

The 2025-26 campaign marked Donlon’s fourth season as Clemson’s associate head coach under Brad Brownell.

Prior to his time in Tigertown, Donlon served as the head coach at Kansas City for three seasons. He was also the head coach at Wright State from 2010-16.

Before his promotion to head coach there, Donlon served as the associate head coach at Wright State under Brownell for four seasons. Before joining Wright State, Donlon was an assistant at his alma mater UNC Wilmington, also coaching under Brownell.

The 49-year-old Donlon, who owns a career head coaching record of 155-133, will now take over an Eastern Michigan program that had a 10-21 record this season. Donlon replaces Stan Heath, who went 57-99 over his five seasons at the helm of the program.

In addition to Clemson, Wright State and UNC Wilmington, Donlon has had stints as an assistant at American, St. Peters, Michigan and Northwestern.

No. 8 seed Clemson (24-10) and No. 9 seed Iowa (21-12) will meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday (6:50 p.m., TNT) at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Update: On Tuesday afternoon, Donlon was officially announced by Eastern Michigan as its new head coach.

“I am super excited for Billy, Melissa and their family,” Brownell said in a statement. “Billy and I have had a 30-year relationship, dating back to UNCW where he was a player and I was an assistant coach. I am so grateful we got to spend these last four years together. 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.”