Athletics Director Peter Roby announced via e-mail Tuesday that 1964 NU graduate Hank Datelle of Atlanta, Ga. donated $100,000 to the men’s basketball program.
“This extremely generous gift from Hank Datelle will enhance our basketball program and will serve as the foundation of our goal towards sustained excellence in basketball,” Roby said in the e-mail.
Datelle is a primary investor for Anduro Manufacturing and was named the Atlanta Business person of the year in 2007.
“It is very appropriate that this gift enables Northeastern basketball to advance to its goals of excellence,” Datelle said in the e-mail.
The donation will help to strengthen the men’s basketball team Coen said in the e-mail.
“I have enjoyed Hank’s friendship and common desire to advance Northeastern Basketball,” Coen said. “I am thankful for his support and look forward to working with him in our goals.”
The announcement came as rumors of Coen’s potential exit from Northeastern were apparently put to rest. As head coaching positions at other programs opened up in recent weeks, Coen’s name circulated the rumor mill as a popular choice to become the head man at Boston College and Siena.
Boston College announced Tuesday that Steve Donahue, the former Cornell University head coach, will fill the vacancy left by Al Skinner, who was fired from BC March 30. Coen, who coached under Skinner as an assistant at Rhode Island and Boston College for a total of 17 seasons, interviewed with BC officials Monday about the opening.
Coen’s name also appears to be dropped from Siena’s candidate list. The Times Union in Albany reported yesterday that Mitch Buonaguro, an assistant coach under former head coach Fran McCaffery for the previous five seasons at Siena and UNC-Greensboro, will be formally introduced as the team’s head coach today. The newspaper reported Coen interviewed with Siena officials last weekend.
The rumors surrounding Coen’s possible departure occur as Northeastern attempts to renegotiate the coach’s contract. Roby said in an interview with WRBB Sports’ Alex Faust last week that Coen has been renegotiating his contract with the school.
“We are currently negotiating new terms, which have not yet been agreed upon,” Roby said. “We are excited for the future of our basketball program with Bill Coen as our head coach.”
Roby said at a Student Government Association meeting in January that Coen signed a contract extension after last season, though the details of the contract were not disclosed.
Roby declined to comment further this week on the latest contract negotiations with Coen.
Coen has been Northeastern’s coach since 2006, piling up a career record of 66-62 in four seasons. After leading the Huskies to a 20-13 record this past season and an appearance in the National Invitational Tournament for just the second time in school history, Coen was honored as the 2009-10 U.S. Basketball Writers Association District 1 Coach of the Year. Under Coen, Northeastern has made consecutive postseason tournament appearances for the first time since the 1986 and 1987 seasons.
