Kenneth L. Blakeney (born November 29, 1971) is an American basketball coach. He is the head coach of the Howard Bison men's basketball team.[1]

Kenny Blakeney
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamHoward
ConferenceMEAC
Record61–76 (.445)
Biographical details
Born (1971-11-29) November 29, 1971 (age 52)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Playing career
1991–1995Duke
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1995–1996James Madison (assistant)
1996–1997La Salle (assistant)
1997–2001Delaware (assistant)
2001–2002Seton Hall (assistant)
2002–2005Delaware (assistant)
2006–2007Marshall (assistant)
2007–2011Harvard (assistant)
2018–2019Columbia (assistant)
2019–presentHoward
Head coaching record
Overall61–76 (.445)
Tournaments0–2 (NCAA Division I)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 MEAC tournament (2023, 2024)
MEAC regular season (2023)
Awards
MEAC Coach of the Year (2023)

Playing career

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After a high school playing career at DeMatha Catholic High School under Morgan Wootten, where he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Maryland, Blakeney played collegiately at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski where he was part of the Blue Devils' 1991 NCAA Championship season as a redshirting freshman, and the 1992 NCAA Championship season.[2] He also served as team captain his senior year.[3][4]

Coaching career

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Upon graduating, Blakeney landed his first assistant coaching position under Lefty Driesell at James Madison, where he stayed for one season before another one-year stop at La Salle. Blakeney joined former Duke assistant coach Mike Brey's staff at Delaware, where he stayed from 1997 to 2001. During the 2001–02 season, Blakeney served as an assistant coach at Seton Hall before returning to Delaware for a second assistant coaching stint.[5] In 2006, Blakeney became an assistant coach at Marshall before joining another former assistant coach from his playing days, working with Tommy Amaker at Harvard.[6][7]

In 2011, Blakeney left coaching for the private sector, working at Under Armour in the company's marketing division.[1] He returned to coaching in 2018, joining the staff at Columbia.[8][4] On May 6, 2019, Blakeney was named the 10th head coach in Howard men's basketball history, replacing Kevin Nickelberry.[9] Blakeney signed the top recruit in Howard history, Makur Maker, on July 3, 2020.[10]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Howard Bison (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) (2019–present)
2019–20 Howard 4–29 1–15 9th
2020–21 Howard 1–4 0–0
2021–22 Howard 16–13 9–5 2nd
2022–23 Howard 22–13 11–3 1st NCAA Division I Round of 64
2023–24 Howard 18–17 9–5 T–2nd NCAA Division I First Four
Howard: 61–76 (.445) 30–28 (.517)
Total: 61–76 (.445)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kenneth L. Blakeney Named Head Men's Basketball Coach at Howard University". Howard University Athletics. 6 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Kenny Blakeney College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "Kenny Blakeney". www.dukeupdate.com.
  4. ^ a b "Kenny Blakeney - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory". Columbia University Athletics. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  5. ^ "Kenny Blakeney rejoins UD basketball staff". www1.udel.edu.
  6. ^ "Kenny Blakeney Named Assistant Men's Basketball Coach". Marshall University Athletics.
  7. ^ "Kenny Blakeney". Harvard. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  8. ^ "Columbia Adds Kenny Blakeney To Coaching Staff". Columbia University Athletics.
  9. ^ Ava Wallace (2019-05-03) [2019-05-02]. "Kenny Blakeney to be named basketball coach at Howard". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.[please check these dates]
  10. ^ Borzello, Jeff (July 3, 2020). "Five-star college basketball recruit Makur Maker commits to Howard over UCLA". ESPN. Retrieved July 3, 2020.