Driscoll Named Associate Head Coach

MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State University Athletics) – Matthew Driscoll, who became the winningest coach in North Florida and Atlantic Sun Conference history during a 16-year stint (2009-25) with the Ospreys, has been hired as associate head coach at Kansas State in an announcement by head coach Jerome Tang on Thursday afternoon (May 22).

“I am excited to welcome Matthew Driscoll to the K-State family as our new Associate Head Coach,” said Tang. “Coach Driscoll is a proven program builder and an exceptional teacher of the game. His ability to develop players and implement high-level offensive systems is second to none. At North Florida, he not only became the winningest coach in ASUN history but also built one of the most dynamic and efficient offenses in the country, consistently ranking among national leaders in 3-point shooting and scoring. His basketball IQ and passion for teaching will bring tremendous value to our program and elevate our team on every level.”

Driscoll resigned as North Florida head coach earlier this afternoon before accepting his K-State appointment. He will hold a press conference on Friday morning at 9 a.m., CT / 10 a.m. ET at the Herbert University Center which will be streamed live on the school’s social media platforms (@OspreyMBB and YouTube) and can be accessed here.

Driscoll’s relationship with Tang dates back more than 20 years, as the two coached alongside each other for six seasons (2003-09) at Baylor as original members of head coach Scott Drew’s staff. The pair were part of 81 wins at Baylor, helping Drew rebuild the Bears from scandal into their first NCAA Tournament bid in 20 years in 2007-08. Driscoll was named the fourth head coach in North Florida history on April 7, 2009.

A head coach for 20 seasons counting a four-year stint at Division III La Roche College in the mid-1990s, Driscoll has 274 career victories, including a school-record 248 at North Florida. In addition to being the winningest coach in Ospreys’ history, he has the most wins (144) of any head coach in Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) history, boasting a career .550 winning percentage in league play. He won 15 or more games 10 times at UNF, while he finished .500 or better in ASUN play on 12 occasions. He owns the program’s only three 20-win seasons, which includes 23 in 2014-15, 22 in 2015-16 and 21 in 2019-20.

Driscoll led the Ospreys to three regular-season Atlantic Sun Conference championships (2015, 2016, 2020), while winning the league’s tournament championship in 2015. He guided the school to three postseason appearances, including the school’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 where they lost to Robert Morris in the First Four. The team went to NIT the following year in 2015-16, while they earned a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) before it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Driscoll was three times selected as the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Coach of the Year following his regular season championships in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2019-20. He was also the 2015 NABC District 3 Coach of the Year following the Ospreys’ historic 23-win campaign, in which, they won both the regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

“Carrie and I are so excited that God has opened this door in our life to reunite with the Tangs and join the K-State men’s basketball program,” said Driscoll. “Twenty-two years ago, it all started between Coach Tang and I and during that time we never stopped developing our relationship spiritually, personally and professionally. When you see and hear ‘Crazy Faith,’ I’m another example. I know some will wonder why I would leave being a head coach to become an assistant coach, but this was a no-brainer in every aspect for us. We all know that work brings profit and if you have studied Coach Tang and his program that’s what they do. My responsibility will be to continue to nurture, encourage, and expound upon this foundation with amazing energy, passion, and a servant’s mentality that will resonate throughout the incredible community of Manhappiness! Go Cats!”

In addition to his head coaching stints at Northgate High School (1988-90), La Roche College (1993-97) and North Florida, Driscoll has been an assistant coach at the high school, junior college, Division II and Division I levels in his 37-year coaching career, including Butler County (Pa.) Community College (1990-91), Seneca Valley (Pa.) High School (1991-92), Slippery Rock (1992-93), Wyoming (1997-98), Clemson (1998-2003), Valparaiso (2003) and Baylor (2003-09).

The longest tenured head coach in UNF history, Driscoll’s teams own every single season program record except for steals, while they produced 27 of the 50 all-time triple-digit scoring outputs. The Ospreys set the ASUN record for points in a game during a 114-111 double-overtime win at Lipscomb on Feb. 16, 2023. He coached 13 of the program’s 18 1,000-point scorers, including the top-4 all-time scorers and the only 2,000-point scorer in Dallas Moore (2,437; 2014-17).

Driscoll’s 2014-15 team earned the school’s first and only final Top 20 ranking in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, while the Ospreys received their first-ever votes in The Associated Press (AP) poll this past season after road upset wins at South Carolina and Georgia Tech in November 2024. He guided them to five regular-season tournament titles (2009 South Mississippi Christmas Classic, 2010 and 2014 Cancun Challenge, 2012 Las Vegas Classic, 2015 Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational) and their only four wins over Power 4 teams (Purdue in 2014-15, Illinois in 2015-16 and South Carolina and Georgia Tech in 2024-25).

Driscoll also owns 21 of the 22 all-time wins against crosstown rival Jacksonville in the River City Rumble, including 18 of the last 23 meetings since 2014. Prior to his arrival, the school had one just win in the series.

Individually, Driscoll mentored two ASUN Players of the Year (Dallas Moore [2015-16, 2016-17), three ASUN Defensive Players of the Year (Demarcus Daniels [2014-15, 2015-16] and Wajid Aminu [2018-19]), one ASUN Newcomer of the Year (Noah Horchler [2017-18]), two ASUN Freshmen of the Year (Dallas Moore [2013-14], Wajid Aminu [2016-17]) and three ASUN Scholar-Athletes of the Year (Trent Mackey [2015-16], JT Escobar [2018-19], Carter Hendricksen [2020-21]). He also had seven NABC All-District honorees, including First Teamers Dallas Moore (2015-16, 2016-17) and Chaz Lanier (2023-24).

Overall, Driscoll coached 19 ASUN all-conference selections, including 10 on the First Team, to go along with 11 All-Tournament and nine All-Freshmen picks. He also had 37 ASUN Players of the Week and 24 Newcomers of the Week. In addition to 16 ASUN All-Academic selections and 120 Academic Honor Roll members, he graduated every player who completed their career at UNF.

Driscoll’s success is all the more impressive considering UNF is one of the youngest athletics programs in the country, having only started athletics in 1983 at the NAIA level before joining the Division II ranks in 1993 and eventually moving to Division I and Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005. The school only became eligible for the NCAA Tournament in his first season in 2009-10.

Driscoll’s relationship with Tang began during their 6-year stint on staff at Baylor (2003-09), where they helped the Bears develop from an 8-win team in their first season to a then school-record 24 wins in year six in 2008-09. This came as the staff was hamstrung by NCAA penalties from the previous coaching staff, including a ban from non-conference games in 2005-06.

During the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, the pair were a part of 45 wins at Baylor after winning 36 in the previous 4 seasons with consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. The Bears advanced to just their fifth NCAA Tournament and first since 1988 in 2007-08, winning 20 games for the first time in 20 seasons, before winning 24 games amidst a run to the NIT Championship game in 2008-09.

Driscoll spent seven weeks on Drew’s staff at Valparaiso before making the move to Baylor. He joined the Crusaders after a 5-year stint (1998-2003) at Clemson working for head coach Larry Shyatt. He was part of 70 victories with the Tigers, including 20 wins and a trip to the 1999 NIT Championship game. Among these victories were three over North Carolina, including an upset over top-ranked Tar Heels in 2001.

Driscoll also worked as Shyatt’s assistant at Wyoming in 1997-98, helping the Cowboys to a pair of top-10 upsets, including national finalist Utah, en route to a 19-9 record and a berth in the NIT.

Driscoll earned his first head coaching position at Division III La Roche College in McCandless Township, Pa., from 1993-97, guiding the RedHawks to 26 wins. He coached the school’s all-time leading scorer Chuck Cieslak, who was inducted into La Roche’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

Driscoll began his coaching career in 1988 when he served as the head coach of his high school alma mater Northgate High School in Pittsburgh. He served in that role from 1988-90 before assistant coaching stints at Butler County (Pa.) Community College (1990-91), Seneca Valley (Pa.) High School (1991-92) and Slippery Rock (1992-93).

Driscoll earned his bachelor’s degree in Education from Slippery Rock (Slippery Rock, Pa.) in 1992.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Driscoll and his wife, Carrie, are the parents of two sons: Chase and Paxton.

Coaching Experience

Head Coach, Northgate High School [Pa.], 1988-90
Assistant Coach, Butler County Community College [Pa.], 1990-91
Assistant Coach, Seneca Valley High School [Pa.], 1991-92
Assistant Coach, Slippery Rock, 1992-93
Head Coach, LaRoche College [Pa.], 1993-97
Assistant Coach, Wyoming, 1997-98
Assistant Coach, Clemson, 1998-2003
Assistant Coach, Valparaiso [Ind.], 2003
Assistant Coach, Baylor, 2003-09
Head Coach, North Florida, 2009-24
Associate Head Coach, Kansas State, 2025-present

Coaching Honors

3-time Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2020)
2014-15 NABC District 3 Coach of the Year
President, NABC Assistant Coaches Board of Directors

Coaching Accolades

Winningest coach in UNF program (248-264) and ASUN Conference (144-118) history
3 ASUN regular-season championships (2015, 2016, 2020)
2015 ASUN Tournament Championship
2 postseason appearances (2015 NCAA Tournament, 2016 NIT)
3 postseason bids (earned invitation to 2020 CIT that was canceled due to COVID)
3 ASUN Tournament Championship Game appearances (2011, 2015, 2017)
Owns all of program’s 20+ win seasons (23 in 2014-15 | 22 in 2015-16 | 21 in 2019-20)
Posted .500 or better record in ASUN play in 12 of 16 seasons
Qualified for ASUN Tournament every season of his tenure
Earned Top 20 final ranking in CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll (2014-15)
Earned first-ever votes in Associated Press (AP) Poll (2024-25)
5 regular season tournament titles (2009 South Mississippi Christmas Classic, 2010 and 2014 Cancun Challenge, 2012 Las Vegas Classic, 2015 Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational)
Coached UNF to 4 victories over Power 5 foes (Purdue in 2014-15 | Illinois in 2015-16 | South Carolina in 2024-25 | Georgia Tech in 2024-25)

Memorable Dates

Nov. 18, 2009: First UNF victory vs Savannah State (57-46)
Jan. 2, 2010: First ASUN victory vs. Kennesaw State (66-60)
Mar. 5, 2011: First ASUN Tournament Championship Game appearance (L, 87-46 vs. Belmont)
Dec. 31, 2013: 50th UNF victory vs Lipscomb (84-70)
Mar. 8, 2015: Won ASUN Championship vs USC Upstate (63-57)
Mar. 18, 2015: Made program debut in NCAA Tournament vs. Robert Morris (L, 81-77)
Nov. 18, 2015: Became the winningest coach in UNF history vs Edward Waters (98-69)
Nov. 27, 2015: 100th UNF victory vs Hartford (81-60)
Mar. 15, 2016: Hosted Florida in opening round of NIT
Mar. 5, 2017: Advanced to ASUN Tournament Championship game
Nov. 29, 2018: 150th UNF victory vs Florida A&M (81-62)
Jan. 16, 2020: 200th career coaching win vs Jacksonville (75-68)
Feb. 12, 2022: 200th career win as UNF’s head coach at Kennesaw State (W, 74-72)
Jan. 20, 2024: Became the winningest coach in ASUN Conference history vs Queens (91-75)

Player Development

Responsible for 13 of the program’s 18 1,000-point scorers
Teams own every single season program record (except steals)
Produced 27 of program’s 50 triple-digit scoring outputs
Twice coached the NCAA leader in 3-pointers/game (2016, 2020)
19 ASUN All-Conference honorees
Seven NABC All-District selections
Two ASUN Players of the Year
One ASUN Newcomer of the Year
Two ASUN Freshmen of the Year
Three ASUN Defensive Players of the Year
Nine ASUN All-Freshmen selections
11 ASUN All-Tournament selections
Three ASUN Scholar-Athletes of the Year
16 ASUN All-Academic honorees
120 ASUN Academic Honor Roll members
37 ASUN Players of the Week
24 ASUN Newcomers of the Week
11 UNF players that have continued careers professionally
Developed two players invited to Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and NBA Summer League
Graduated all players that have completed careers at UNF