Northeastern University Men's Basketball

McDonald is in his sixth season on the Northeastern coaching staff after four years as one of the Huskies leaders on the court. McDonald will aid with mentoring the Huskies, much like he had done while on the court himself. McDonald's impact on and off the court helped the Huskies to a share of the CAA regular season title and a first ever CAA tournament championship title in 2014-15. The Huskies made their return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 24 years under the tutelage of McDonald. A native of Southbury, Connecticut, McDonald walked onto the team in 2006 and quickly gained the admiration of his coaches and fellow players for his hard work, determination and commitment to personal development. McDonald appeared in 38 career games for the Huskies and helped lead the team to back-to-back postseason appearances in 2009 and 2010. He was a CAA All-Academic honorable mention in 2010 and was named one of Northeasterns 100 Most Influential Seniors. McDonald earned his bachelors degree in new venture management and finance from Northeastern in 2010 and is co-founder of an Internet company, Virtual Investments, LLC. He earned his MBA from Northeastern in 2012.

Matt Janning joined the staff as an assistant coach at the start of the 2024-25 season. Janning, who retired after a 13-year professional career in 2024, is one of the top players in Northeastern history.   "We're thrilled to have Matt join the coaching staff here at Northeastern," Coen said. "Matt is one of the best players in the history of our program and had an incredibly successful professional career over the last 13 years. He played in the NBA as well as the highest levels of professional basketball around the globe. We are confident that his playing experience, knowledge of the game, and leadership qualities will greatly benefit our student-athletes and our program. We're extremely excited to welcome Matt and his family back home to Northeastern University."   A prolific scorer and playmaker, Janning enjoyed an outstanding four years on Huntington Avenue, finishing his collegiate career ranked fourth all-time with 1,836 points behind only Reggie Lewis, JJ Barea and Pete Harris. He led the Huskies in scoring during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, and is still fifth on Northeastern's career record list for made three-point field goals (223), sixth in made field goals (639) and eighth in assists (352).   "I'm ecstatic to bring my family back to Boston and Northeastern University," Janning said. "The opportunity to start a new career here for a second time with Coach Coen was something I couldn't pass on. The opportunity to grow as a coach at such a prestigious university excites me more than anything."   The Watertown, Minn. native averaged 14.3 points per game during his 128-game career and was a three-time All-CAA performer, including first team honors in 2009 and 2010. No slouch in the classroom, Janning was also a three-time CAA All-Academic second team selection and was the recipient of the 2010 Herbert Gallagher Award as Northeastern's top senior scholar-athlete.    Janning would go on to play professionally in the NBA, NBA G League and overseas before retiring in 2024. He is set to be inducted into the Northeastern Athletics Hall of Fame this November.   Janning joins fellow assistants and Northeastern alumni Brian McDonald '10 and Joel Smith '12 on Coen's staff, making the Huskies one of just a handful of schools in college basketball to have all three assistant coaches play for the head coach at the same school.

Joel Smith enters his fourth season as an assistant coach for the Northeastern men's basketball program in 2024-25. Smith was a standout player for the Huskies from 2009-13 and played two seasons of professional basketball (2013-15) before joining the coaching ranks. Smith came to Northeastern after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of New Haven. There he helped the Chargers finish second in their conference and a NCAA East Region semifinals game in 2018-19, and followed that up with another Northeastern-10 Conference championship game in 2019-20, falling by two points in the finals. Smith served as the director of recruiting and was responsible for player development during his time at New Haven. Previously, Smith began his career as a graduate assistant with the men's basketball team at Northeastern in 2013-14, spent time in the Northeastern Business Office (2012-18) and worked as the video coordinator for the men's basketball team (2016-18). He received a bachelor's degree and master's degree from Northeastern in 2012 and 2016, and is currently working on his MBA at New Haven. Smith played professional baseball for two seasons for Artenas in Argentina in 2013-14, and averaged 16.0 points per game for Correcaminos UAT in Mexico.