Donny Guerinoni

Donny Guerinoni completed his fifth year in 2019-20 as a member of Tommy Amaker’s staff, and 17th season overall as a college coach. His responsibilities for the Crimson have included player skill development, opponent scouting, recruiting, assisting with offensive and defensive drill work, assisting with game strategy and preparation, and community outreach. Guerinoni has also served as the Director of both the Harvard Basketball Coaches Clinic, and the Basketball Academy at Harvard for the last three years.

A season ago, the Crimson reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2014-15, finishing with a 21-8 record. On the way to its fifth-highest win total in program history, Harvard defeated Power-5 conference foes Texas A&M and California, and enjoyed a pair of lengthy winning streaks (8 games and 6 games). The Crimson earned a berth to the Ivy League Tournament after a runner-up finish in the regular season, but the league and university canceled the event and eventually the rest of the spring schedule, effectively ending the campaign. Despite the abrupt finish, Harvard had a first-team all-Ivy selection in Noah Kirkwood, while Chris Lewis, who completed his career as the school's all-time leader in blocked shots and field goal percentage, garnered second-team accolades.

The 2018-19 season marked yet another historic year for the Crimson, repeating as back-back Ivy League Champions, making it seven titles in the last nine years. With an overall record of 19-12, 10-4 in Ivy play, the year was capped off with an NIT victory over Georgetown and with two Harvard players receiving all-conference awards. Junior guard, Bryce Aiken was named first-team all-Ivy, while first year guard, Noah Kirkwood was named the Ivy League’s Rookie of the Year.

Eleven players have now received all-conference recognition during Guerinoni’s time on staff, including one Player of the Year (Seth Towns ‘18-‘19), one Defensive Player of the Year (Agunwa Okolie ‘15-‘16), and two Rookie-of-the-Year recipients (Noah Kirkwood ’18-’19 and Bryce Aiken ’16-’17).

Before joining Harvard, Guerinoni spent the previous 12 seasons as an assistant coach at the following universities:

• Texas Christian University, BIG 12 (2012-2014)
• Louisiana State University, SEC (2008-2012)
• Stanford University, PAC-12 (2004-2008)
• West Valley College, Coast Conference (2002-2004)

Responsibilities held at these institutions include assisting the head coach with recruiting, player development, scheduling, academic accountability, implementing the offensive and defensive systems, opponent scouting, fundraising, creating an official student-section cheer committee, and managing the budget for equipment, team meals, camps, and recruiting.

Throughout his coaching career, Guerinoni has been fortunate enough to be a member of several accomplished programs. Some of the team achievements include:

• 8 NBA Players
• 22 Professional Players Overseas
• 19 Players with All-Conference Honors
• 8 Postseason Tournament Appearances, 4 NCAA & 4 NIT
• 3 Conference Championships, 2 Ivy & 1 SEC

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Guerinoni attended the University of Nevada – Reno where he was a member of the men’s basketball program, and one of the team’s top shooters under Head Coach, Trent Johnson.

Before his time with the Wolf Pack, Guerinoni was a standout player at West Valley College in Saratoga, California. There he played for legendary junior college coach, Bob Burton. Some of Guerinoni’s accomplishments as a student-athlete include:

• Full Athletic Scholarship – University of Nevada, Reno 1999-2000
• University of Nevada Scholar Athlete Recipient 2001
• Western Athletic Conference All-Academic Team 2001
• Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Member 2001
• Coast Conference MVP – West Valley College 1999
• Named California Junior College First-Team All-State – West Valley College 1999

Personal
Guerinoni is originally from Sebastopol, California in Sonoma County. He and his wife, Samantha Shepard, reside in Somerville, Massachusetts with their newborn son, Miles. Samantha is a Stanford University alum and was a member of their track & field pole vaulting team. She was ranked the nation’s No. 1 high school women’s pole vaulter for two years straight and was recently inducted into the Massachusetts High School Track & Field Hall of Fame. She now works in college admissions.