In September, Furman University Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Jason Donnelly embarked on a four-year term as part of a 20-member team tasked with the oversight of NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.<\/p>\n
Donnelly, the 2023-24 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Athletics Director of the Year, will serve on the oversight committee through August 2030.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Men\u2019s Basketball Oversight Committee ensures proper governance and accountability for the sport, enhances the development and public perception of the game, and makes recommendations related to regular-season and postseason play. The committee prioritizes enhancement of the student-athlete educational experience – academically and athletically – and in doing so, promotes student-athletes\u2019 personal growth and leadership development.<\/span><\/p>\n The appointment marks an important milestone for Furman and the SoCon with representation at the highest level in the NCAA.<\/p>\n “I am deeply honored and humbled to be selected to serve on the NCAA Division I Men\u2019s Basketball Oversight Committee,\u201d Donnelly said in a June statement. \u201cIt is a privilege to represent Furman University and the Southern Conference while helping shape the future of our sport.”<\/p>\n Donnelly, who has invested more than two decades in Division I men\u2019s basketball as both a coach and administrator, said he has “tremendous respect for the impact this game has on student-athletes and institutions alike – I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside outstanding colleagues from across the country in support of the continued growth and success of college basketball.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In his seven years at the helm of Furman University\u2019s athletics program, Donnelly has delivered bold new energy, innovation and vision to Paladin Athletics, with an emphasis on a first-class student-athlete experience, academic achievement, record-breaking donor fundraising, significant capital projects, and enhanced alumni and external engagement strategies.<\/p>\n During Donnelly\u2019s tenure at Furman, the men\u2019s basketball program has reached the Southern Conference Tournament finals in four of the last five years and claimed league title and NCAA Tournament bids in 2023 and 2026. This past year, Furman reopened Timmons Arena following a $40 million, donor funded renovation project that transformed the home of the Paladins into one of the top mid-major basketball arenas in the country.<\/p>\n Donnelly has served as the chair of the NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Competition Committee, chair of the Southern Conference Athletics Directors committee, and was a member of the FCS Football Regional Advisory Committee.\u00a0In recent years, Furman has co-hosted multiple NCAA Basketball Tournament events with the Southern Conference, including the 2022 men\u2019s first and second rounds, the 2023 NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Regionals, and the 2026 men\u2019s first and second rounds in Greenville.<\/p>\n Prior to Furman, Donnelly served the Villanova men\u2019s basketball program as a coach and administrator for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright. During Donnelly\u2019s 14 years at Villanova, the Wildcats made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including runs to the 2006 Elite Eight, 2009 Final Four, while winning the 2016 and 2018 Men\u2019s Basketball National Championships.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jason Donnelly’s appointment to the oversight committee marks an important milestone for Furman and the SoCon with representation at the highest level in the NCAA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":43797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","category-athletics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43793"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43803,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43793\/revisions\/43803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}