Matthew Francis Doherty (born February 25, 1962) is an American former college basketball coach best known for his time as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team. Prior to accepting the head coaching position at UNC, he spent one season as head coach of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball program.
As a college player, Doherty started on the 1981–82 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team, which on March 29, 1982, won the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, defeating the University of Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team by a score of 63–62. At UNC, Doherty played under the legendary college coach Dean Smith, and started alongside future National Basketball Association stars James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Brad Daugherty and Michael Jordan.
Prior to being named the head coach at Notre Dame, Doherty served as an assistant coach first at Davidson, then at Kansas. After leaving UNC, Doherty would go on to become head coach of the Florida Atlantic Owls, and the SMU Mustangs.
Outside of coaching, Doherty has also served as a college basketball commentator and as an NBA scout. His broadcast roles have included serving as a color commentator for various high school and college programs including Davidson. Doherty was most recently the Atlantic 10 Conference's associate commissioner for men's college basketball, resigning in April, 2019. Doherty went on to his current role as an executive coach, keynote speaker and author of the book REBOUND: From Pain to Passion - Leadership Lessons Learned.
Early years Doherty was born in East Meadow, New York. In his teenage years, he went to high school at Holy Trinity DHS in Hicksville, New York. Bob McKillop was his coach during his first two years at Holy Trinity. Doherty was the first freshman to make the varsity team at Holy Trinity.
Doherty was on the 1980 Holy Trinity team that won the Class A New York state high school boys basketball championship.
While at Holy Trinity, Doherty was named to the second team of the Parade All-America Boys Basketball Team, in 1979. Doherty was also a McDonald's All-American, playing in the 1980 game.
In October 1979, Doherty committed to playing for the Tar Heels. Other schools tried to recruit Doherty before he could legally sign his letter of intent, but North Carolina basketball staffers checked on Doherty, calling and visiting him until he could sign his letter of intent.
College career
Freshman season Doherty was a reserve small forward during his freshman year. He played all but nine games in the first half of his freshman year because of a fractured left thumb. In the 28 games he played in his freshman year, Doherty had 67 assists and averaged six points and three rebounds per game. He played in the 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game loss against Indiana.
Sophomore season In the summer of 1981, Doherty played on the South team in the National Sports Festival.
Doherty didn't start during his freshman year in part because of Dean Smith's reluctance to start freshmen. By his sophomore year, Doherty was chosen as a starting forward. He appeared on the November 30, 1981 Sports Illustrated issue previewing the 1981–82 season, announcing that season's North Carolina team as the preseason number one team according to the AP Poll. Smith's other upperclassmen starters for that team--James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Jimmy Black—also appeared on the cover with Smith. (Michael Jordan, one of Smith's few freshmen starters, was omitted from the cover because Smith didn't allow media coverage of freshmen players before they played their first game.)
Doherty made 71 of his 92 free throw attempts, converting .772 percent of his free throws; his free throw percentage was the best of any player on the 1981-82 team. He also had 105 assists and averaged 9.3 points and three rebounds per game. Doherty scored at crucial points of North Carolina's postseason; he made the three winning free-throws in North Carolina's victory against Virginia in the 1982 ACC men's basketball tournament, and he was one of the high scorers of the 1982 NCAA East Regional semifinal game against Alabama. He was also an ACC All-Tournament Second Team selection.
Junior season Doherty led the 1982–83 team in assists, with 150. He averaged 10.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Doherty was also named the team's most outstanding defensive player that season.
In the 1983 ACC men's basketball tournament quarterfinal against Clemson, Doherty scored 28 points, the most points he scored in an individual game during his college career. He made the ACC All-Tournament Second Team for the second consecutive year.
Senior season Before his senior season, Doherty played on the 1983 United States Select team.
Doherty was a co-captain of the 1983–84 team, along with Perkins and Cecil Exum. Doherty was also the team's assist leader, with 124. He averaged 9.8 points and four rebounds per game.
In his last ACC Tournament in 1984, Doherty was named an All-ACC Tournament First Team selection. He also was on the ACC All-Academic team.
At North Carolina, Doherty was a four-year letterman. Doherty was the second person in ACC history to earn 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 400 assists over a collegiate career. In the four seasons Doherty played with North Carolina, the Tar Heels amassed a record of 117 wins and 21 losses and won the 1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Doherty was the 1984 recipient of the Jim Tatum Memorial Award, an award given by the Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that honors athletes who also participate in community activities.
Doherty graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1984 with a degree in business administration.
After college After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, Doherty entered the 1984 NBA draft. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the sixth round, with the 119th overall pick. Doherty ended up being cut by the Cavaliers on September 25, 1984. Doherty never played in the NBA.
Doherty wanted nothing to do with basketball after getting cut. He worked as a bonds salesman on Wall Street for three years, but hated it. Doherty admitted to quitting his Wall Street job at the press conference held shortly after he was named head coach of Notre Dame.
Doherty moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he worked as an executive search consultant. Around the same time, Doherty did color commentary for North Carolina, Davidson, St. Francis (NY), and high schools in the Charlotte area.
Assistant coaching career Doherty started his coaching career with a Charlotte-based Amateur Athletic Union team, coaching alongside former multi-sport Tar Heel athlete Charles Waddell. Doherty coached Jeff McInnis before McInnis came to UNC-Chapel Hill.
In 1989, Doherty was hired as an assistant basketball coach at Davidson, where McKillop was the head coach. Doherty was an assistant coach at Davidson for three seasons.
In 1992, Doherty became an assistant coach at Kansas under Roy Williams, who had been an assistant to Smith during Doherty's years at North Carolina. Doherty was at Kansas for seven years. During Doherty's time at Kansas, the Jayhawks won four Big 8 and Big 12 titles and advanced to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament every year. Doherty was an active recruiter during his time at Kansas. Several of the players he coached there went on to play in the NBA, including, but not limited to, Paul Pierce, Drew Gooden, and Kirk Hinrich. Other Kansas players talked about how Doherty recruited them to the press. In an interview with the Lawrence Journal-World, T.J. Pugh mentioned that, on separate occasions, Doherty sent him a single match with the note "We think you and KU are a perfect match" as well as an air sickness bag with the note "We'll be sick if you don't pick Kansas" written on it. Raef LaFrentz, speaking to USA Today, mentioned Doherty drew him a cartoon called "Jayhawk Slammer," featuring a player dunking over several people.
Coaching career
Notre Dame On March 30, 1999, Doherty was named as the head coach of Notre Dame men's basketball, less than a month after John MacLeod resigned. Doherty had several offers to become a head coach, but at the advice of Roy Williams and Dean Smith he waited until he found a great fit and he felt Notre Dame was a great fit for an Irish Catholic kid from New York.
Doherty and his only Notre Dame team had hopes of reaching the 2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. But with a regular season record of 16–13 and a quarterfinal loss to Miami in the 2000 Big East men's basketball tournament, Doherty's Notre Dame team did not receive a bid for the NCAA tournament. Instead, they accepted an invitation to the 2000 National Invitation Tournament. Doherty's Notre Dame team reached the NIT finals, falling to Wake Forest. Doherty's Notre Dame team finished their season with a 22–15 record.
North Carolina
First season
Bill Guthridge decided to retire at the end of the 1999–2000 North Carolina basketball season, on June 30, 2000. North Carolina basketball staff interviewed Roy Williams for the head coaching job after Guthridge's retirement. Roy Williams was mistakenly named as head coach by the Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina, before he could decide on the North Carolina coaching job. Williams decided to stay at Kansas. Other coaches, including John Calipari, had interest in the coaching vacancy, but Guthridge and Smith insisted they were looking for a coach with ties to North Carolina's basketball program. George Karl, Larry Brown, Eddie Fogler, Jeff Lebo, and Randy Wiel, all North Carolina basketball alumni, applied for the vacancy. Karl, Brown, and Fogler later took their names out of consideration. Dick Baddour, then the athletic director of UNC-Chapel Hill, was set on hiring Doherty. Doherty was named head coach of North Carolina on July 11, 2000. Doherty decided to take the job after a phone call with Jordan earlier that day. Jordan told Doherty the North Carolina coaching job might go to someone who didn't play or coach at North Carolina.
Doherty asked if he could bring his own staff from Notre Dame with him to North Carolina, a request greenlighted by North Carolina's athletic director. Doherty brought his assistant coaches--Doug Wojcik, Fred Quartlebaum, and Bob MacKinnon—and his coordinator of basketball operations, David Cason, with him from Notre Dame. Doherty felt he was rewarding the loyalty of the people that worked with him at Notre Dame, and felt Smith would have done the same thing. Instead, Smith and North Carolina basketball staff at that time were upset Doherty replaced Guthridge's assistant coaches Phil Ford, Dave Hanners, and Pat Sullivan. Ford, Hanners, and Sullivan not only played for North Carolina (unlike Doherty's Notre Dame coaching staff), they were also involved in recruiting players prior to Doherty's arrival. Doherty later felt he was misled by North Carolina basketball staff. However, some coaches applauded Doherty for retaining his Notre Dame coaching staff when he became North Carolina's head coach. Two of Doherty's four administrative staff left only to work with Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge. Doherty ended up releasing another administrative staff member due to lack of loyalty. These moves created dissension with the program.
Doherty's first public appearance as North Carolina's head coach was at North Carolina's annual Midnight Madness event, then called "Midnight with Matt and the Tar Heels." Doherty received a standing ovation when he walked into Carmichael Auditorium in the team's warm-up clothing and shoes. He participated in some of the event's activities, including a three-point shooting contest and a 3 on 3 contest between the coaching staff and champions from UNC-Chapel Hill's intramural basketball teams.