Bill Courtney, an assistant coach at Virginia Tech who also helped George Mason to mid-major prominence, has been named the Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Basketball by Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education.

Courtney, 39, replaces Steve Donahue, who accepted the head coaching position at Boston College in early April.

"Bill Courtney brings an array of qualities to Cornell Basketball that I am confident will lead the Big Red to continued success within the Ivy league and beyond," Noel said. "His energy and enthusiasm are infectious, but his attention to the details of coaching and recruiting are what makes me confident that he have hired a winner."

During his 15-years as an assistant coach, Courtney has been part of teams that have 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.

Courtney just finished his first season at Virginia Tech where he helped the Hokies to a 25-9 record and a spot in the NIT quarterfinals. Virginia Tech matched a school-record with 25 wins and finished third in the ACC at 10-6 in conference play behind national champion Duke and Maryland.

Courtney arrived in Blacksburg after three years at University of Virginia, a short stint at Virginia Commonwealth University and a highly successful eight-year run at George Mason. In his first season in Charlottesville, for example, the Cavaliers won a share of the 2006-07 ACC title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Virginia knocked off top 10 teams Arizona and Duke that year after being picked to finish eighth in the league in the preseason poll.

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.

Courtney has also coached at Bowling Green University and American University.

After playing professionally for the Philadelphia Spirit of the U.S. Basketball League and for the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA Summer League team in 1992, Courtney played two years in Hong Kong, earning the league's MVP award and collecting the 1993 Asian All-Star game MVP Award.

Courtney has familiarity with Cornell after earning a pair of first-team All-Patriot League accolades during his junior and senior seasons at Bucknell University, serving as team captain both years, graduating in 1992. He 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).

Courtney and his wife, Gina, have two sons, ages 9 and 7.