Jeff Van Gundy, born on January 19th, 1962, is an American commentator, former basketball coach for the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets, and senior analyst. He went to college at Menlo College, SUNY Brockport, and Nazareth College (now called Nazareth University).
History at Nazareth
Jeff Van Gundy was a Nazareth Class of 1985 graduate, member, and MVP of the Nazareth men's basketball team. During his 2 year career on the men's basketball team from 1983-1985, he played as a point guard. He also was named first-team all East Region in 1985 and currently is the Nazareth Career leader in free throw percentage at 86.8%
Jeff van Gundy Nazareth - Bing images
Professional Career
Jeff Van Gundy started his basketball coaching career at McQuaid Jesuit High School from 1985-1986. After leaving coaching at McQuaid HS, he spent one year as an assistant basketball coach at Providence College and another year later as an assistant coach at Rutgers University. Then, from 1989-1996, he was hired by the NY Knicks as an assistant coach for six and half seasons. Not long after, he was hired as head coach of the NY Knicks from 1996-2001, leading the Knicks to the finals in 1999, where they lost to the San Francisco Spurs. In 2000, Jeff Van Gundy was awarded as an NBA All-Star Game Head Coach. After taking a 2-year break from coaching, he was hired as head coach for the Houston Rockets from 2003-2007. After this, began his broadcasting career. Starting as a guest analyst for ESPN’s broadcast of the Phoenix Suns-San Antonio Spurs game, he soon became a lead broadcaster/analyst for the NBA on ESPN and ABC. He was also hired in 2017 as the head coach for the US Men's National Basketball Team, leading them to a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. He is still professionally active; as of October 16, 2023, Jeff Van Gundy has been hired as a senior consultant for the Boston Celtics for the 2023-2024 season.
Jeff Van Gundy coaching - Bing images
Legacy at Nazareth
In 1996, Jeff Van Gundy was inducted into Nazareth’s Hall of Fame. He also gave money to contribute to the refurbishment of the Nazareth Men’s and Women's locker rooms, both of which have been dedicated to him. Although it has been a while, he has come back to Nazareth on the occasion to host workshops for high school basketball coaches. He also paid Nazareth a small visit during the grand opening of the Golisano Training Center. Overall, Jeff Van Gundy is arguably Nazareth University’s most famous alumni. Hopefully, he returns soon to spread more of his professional wisdom.
Fun Facts About Him
-In May of 2005, he was fined 100,000 dollars by the NBA for accusing the referees of targeting the Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. This was the largest fine given to a coach in NBA history.
- Coached 11 seasons in the NBA with the NY Knicks and the Houston Rockets, winning 430 games in total
-On two separate occasions in the NBA, he had attempted to split up fights between players, but both times, he ended up getting accidentally hit or ended up on the floor