Darnell Haney came to the Hilltop for the 2023-24 season as the associate head coach on Tasha Butts' staff. Following her passing, Haney was named the interim head coach and then earned the title of head coach in March of 2024.
In his interim season with the Hoyas, Georgetown went 23-12 as well as 9-9 in conference play. It marked the most wins since the 2010-11 season, and the most conference victories since the 2018-19 campaign. More notably, Haney led the Hoyas to a magical run in the BIG EAST Tournament as the sixth-seeded Hoyas won three games in a row to advance to the BIG EAST championship game for the first time in program history. The path to the championship also included a win over No. 21 Creighton marking GU's first win over a team ranked in the AP poll since 2016. The Hoyas were then selected to participate in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament marking the first postseason run since 2019. GU advanced to the second round of the tournament.
Individually, the Blue & Gray racked up honors with Kelsey Ransom being named the BIG EAST Co-Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST as well as Graceann Bennett earning her second-consecutive BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award and Brianna Scott being named the BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year. It was GU's first major defensive award since 2019 and the first sixth woman in program history.
Within weekly awards, Georgetown had eight nods to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll and GU's first BIG EAST Player of the Week since 2019 in Ransom's honor on February 26. Statistically, the Hoyas were known for their defensive prowess ranking 10th in the nation in scoring defense averaging 54.5.
Haney came to Georgetown from Jacksonville University where he was the head coach for five seasons. He spent five seasons at the helm of the Jacksonville program, but 10 years with the Dolphins overall. In his time at Jacksonville, he coached 16 All-Atlantic Sun Conference players as well as two student-athletes garnering Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year accolades. As a head coach, he led the team to two wins in the ASUN Tournament.
Working as an assistant coach with the Dolphins, Jacksonville was crowned the 2016 ASUN Champions and made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, the Dolphins made back-to-back Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) appearances in 2017 and 2018 – another first in the program's history.
Prior to Jacksonville, Haney spent the 2010-13 seasons turning Jones High School's girls' basketball into a powerhouse program in Florida as its head coach. A three-time FACA Coach of the Year, Haney developed several Division I players, while also leading the program to a pair of district titles and state semifinal appearances.
A Miami, Florida native, Haney served as an instructor for two years at The Edge Training Facility, known as the premier training facility in the state of Florida. In conjunction with former Boston Celtic Dee Brown, Haney performed team and individual skill development sessions, camps, and clinics, and worked with a range of clientele from beginning players, to elite prep, college, and professional athletes in the NBA and European Leagues.
From 2006-09, Haney served in a pair of coaching roles in high school boys' basketball. From 2006-09, he was an assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach to the legendary Jerry Howard at Jones High School in Orlando, where he developed 11 eventual collegiate athletes, three of whom went on to play professionally. Haney also served as head coach at South Lake High School in Groveland, Florida in 2009.
A 2004 graduate of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in engineering technology, Haney also holds a Master's of Science in athletic administration from Nova Southeastern University graduating in 2010. He attended Miami Southridge Senior High School, where he was a three-year basketball letterman and team captain.
He and his wife, Aaliyah, have three children, Imani, Caleb and Avery.
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