Jeff Van Gundy

Early life

Van Gundy was born in Hemet, California. He grew up in the town of Brockport, New York. He is the son of a basketball coach, Bill Van Gundy, the former head coach at Brockport State University in Western New York. His older brother Stan Van Gundy later became head coach of the NBA's Miami Heat and Orlando Magic and is currently the Head Coach and Director of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons.

As a high-school point guard, he was a two-time All Greater Rochester selection in 1979 and 1980, leading Brockport Central to the Class AA finals. He continued his career at Nazareth College where he earned All American honors while leading the Golden Flyers to an NCAA Division III Tournament berth in 1984. He remains the Nazareth career leader in free throw percentage at 87%.

Van Gundy attended Yale University before transferring to Menlo College and ultimately graduated from New York's Nazareth College in 1985.

Early career

Van Gundy began his basketball coaching career during the 1985-86 season at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester, New York. The following year he became a graduate assistant under Rick Pitino at Providence College, helping the Providence Friars advance to the Final Four. In his second season with the Friars he was promoted to assistant coach under Gordon Chiesa. The next season, Van Gundy became an assistant coach under Bob Wenzel at Rutgers.

New York Knicks

On July 28, 1989, Jeff Van Gundy became assistant coach for the New York Knicks. The next six-and-a-half seasons were spent providing support to Knicks coaches Stu Jackson (1989–1990), John MacLeod (1990–1991), Pat Riley (1991–1995) and Don Nelson (1995–1996). During his tenure as an assistant coach the Knicks won three Atlantic Division titles, never finished lower than third in the division, and qualified for the playoffs every year. The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1993 and the NBA Finals versus the Houston Rockets in 1994.

Van Gundy was the head coach of the New York Knicks from March 8, 1996 until his resignation on December 8, 2001. He led the team to the playoffs six times, including their Cinderella run to the 1999 NBA Finals. Van Gundy created a memorable scene in the 1998 NBA Playoffs series between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. When the Heat's 6'10", 240-pound center Alonzo Mourning and the Knicks' 6'6", 250-pound forward Larry Johnson engaged in a violent, bench-clearing brawl, Van Gundy unsuccessfully tried to break the fight up. Most memorably, the 5'9", 150-pound Van Gundy fell to the floor and clung to Mourning's leg.

In a 2001 game between the Spurs and Knicks, Danny Ferry elbowed Marcus Camby. While talking to the referee, Camby lost control and tried to punch Ferry. He missed and hit Van Gundy instead.

Houston Rockets

Van Gundy was hired as head coach of the Houston Rockets in 2003.

In May 2005, Van Gundy was fined $100,000 by the NBA for accusing referees of targeting Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. Van Gundy blamed Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for causing the referees' alleged bias. This is the largest fine handed down to a coach in NBA history.

On May 18, 2007, he was fired from that position after the team's seven-game, first-round playoff loss to the Utah Jazz.

Broadcasting career

Following his firing from the Rockets in 2007, Van Gundy was a guest analyst for ESPN's broadcast of the Phoenix Suns-San Antonio Spurs game in San Antonio, Texas and has since been a broadcaster for ESPN. Van Gundy now calls many basketball games as a color commentator with play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, including the NBA Finals.

Life outside basketball

Jeff Van Gundy is an executive board member of Pro-Vision, a Houston charter school and non-profit organization in Houston that provides educational, job-training, and mentoring services to boys and girls aged 10–18.

On May 8, 2011, Van Gundy received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from his alma mater, Nazareth College during the college's 84th Annual Commencement Ceremony.