Temple assistant men's basketball coach Bill Courtney dies at 55
- - Temple assistant men's basketball coach Bill Courtney dies at 55
Nick Bromberg January 14, 2026 at 12:18 AM
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Temple assistant coach Bill Courtney joined the Owls in the summer of 2025. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images) (Isaiah Vazquez via Getty Images)
Temple assistant men’s basketball coach Bill Courtney has died. He was 55.
Courtney, a longtime college basketball coach, joined Temple’s staff over the summer. He served as Miami’s interim coach during the 2024-25 season after Jim Larrañaga had stepped down.
"I am shocked and heartbroken by the tragic news and passing of my close friend Bill Courtney," Temple head coach Adam Fisher said in a statement. "Bill made such a big impact on our program in such a short time. He was one of the most respected coaches in the country — thoughtful, prepared, and deeply committed to the game and to winning the right way. Bill made every program he touched better, and his loss is felt profoundly by everyone who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bill's family during this extremely difficult time."
Courtney was at Miami since the start of the 2019-2020 season and became the team’s associate head coach in 2022. The Hurricanes were 4-8 when Larrañaga resigned in December and finished the season 3-16 under Courtney.
"I was shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing of coach Bill Courtney," Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson said. "In the short time that he has been part of the Temple family, I saw the impact that he had on our program with the joy that exuded from him on and off the court. He will be missed by his immediate family, his Temple basketball family, and the greater basketball community."
Before joining Miami’s staff, Courtney was an assistant at DePaul for two seasons. His time at DePaul came after he was the head coach at Cornell for six seasons from 2010 through 2016. The Big Red were 60-113 in Courtney’s tenure and finished fifth in the Ivy League three times in that span.
A former player at Bucknell, Courtney began his coaching career after his playing career was over in 1992. After starting out as an assistant high school coach, Courtney got his first college coaching job as an assistant at American University in 1995.
Source: “AOL Sports”
