Ken McDonald’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story
Jessica Hardy
Updated on August 11, 2026
| Intro | American basketball player-coach | |
| Is | Athlete Basketball player Sports coach Basketball coach | |
| From | United States of America | |
| Type | Sports | |
| Gender | male | |
| Birth | 4 March 1970, Providence, USA | |
| Age: | 50 years | |
| Star sign | Pisces | |
| Sports Teams |
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Kenneth Michael McDonald (born March 4, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach, currently working as a special assistant coach at the University of Tennessee. He previously served as a head coach with the Austin Toros of the NBA G-League and at Western Kentucky University.
McDonald spent from 2004 to 2008 at Texas under Rick Barnes. He previously worked as an assistant at Western Kentucky under Dennis Felton, from 1998–2003, helping the Hilltoppers reach the NCAA tournament during his final three seasons with the program. McDonald has one daughter, Ella, born January 28, 2008.
On January 6, 2012, Western Kentucky University released McDonald from his contract, citing lackluster attendance and a 5–11 start to the 2011–12 season. The firing came after a controversial game the previous night, which allowed Louisiana–Lafayette a game-winning shot with six players on the court during overtime. The error was discovered immediately after the game. Coach McDonald and athletic director Ross Bjork contested the results at the scorer’s table. However, officials declined to review the incident due to NCAA rules. He was replaced by assistant coach Ray Harper in interim, who was eventually named head coach moving forward.
In September 2013, he was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Austin Toros. On July 27, 2015, he signed a contract extension with the now Austin Spurs.
On April 12, 2018, McDonald was hired as an assistant coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane men’s basketball team, working under head coach Frank Haith.
Head coaching record
College
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky (Sun Belt Conference) | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | Western Kentucky | 25–8 | 15–3 | 1st (East) | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | Western Kentucky | 21–13 | 12–6 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2010–11 | Western Kentucky | 16–16 | 8–8 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2011–12 | Western Kentucky | 5–11 | 1–2 | (fired) | |||||
| Western Kentucky: | 67–48 | 36–19 | |||||||
| Total: | 67–48 | ||||||||
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G-League
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | 2013–14 | 50 | 19 | 31 | .380 | 6th in Central | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| AUS | 2014–15 | 50 | 32 | 18 | .640 | 1st in Southwest | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | Lost in D-League Semifinals |
| AUS | 2015–16 | 50 | 30 | 20 | .600 | 1st in Southwest | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | Lost in D-League Semifinals |
| AUS | 2016–17 | 50 | 25 | 25 | .380 | 4th in Southwest | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 200 | 106 | 94 | .540 | 12 | 8 | 4 | .667 |
