Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell’s Branden McDonald Attending Prestigious TopConnect Basketball Symposium
6/12/2023 9:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell assistant men's basketball coach Branden McDonald is in Orlando on Monday attending the prestigious TopConnect Basketball Symposium, presented by Teamworks and INFLNCR.
TopConnect (formerly Villa 7), originated in 2003 by then-VCU athletic director Dr. Richard Sander, identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major ADs providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.
McDonald is in his second year on the coaching staff at Bucknell after spending a year at Northern Illinois and the previous four at Towson. McDonald helped the Tigers to an 18-win season in 2017-18 and a 19-win season in 2019-20. The 2019-20 squad finished third in the Colonial Athletic Conference with a 12-6 record, and the squad placed a league-high five players on the All-CAA Team. The 2017-18 team jumped out to a 10-1 start, Towson's best as a Division I program, and was ranked as high as fourth in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll while also receiving votes in the Associated Press poll.
Prior to his tenure at Towson, McDonald worked under head coach Steve Masiello for two seasons at Manhattan. McDonald broke into the collegiate coaching ranks as a graduate assistant coach at Pittsburgh from 2013-15. In his first season, the Panthers won 26 games, the last of which was an NCAA Tournament first-round contest against Colorado. Pitt won 19 games and played in the NIT in 2014-15.
A native of Glen Arden, Md., McDonald played collegiately at Virginia Union and graduated in 2011 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, he worked as an assistant coach with the Team Takeover AAU program and then at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, where he helped the team win the 2012-13 Maryland state championship.
Now in its sixth year, TopConnect develops educational programming that allows top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders and speakers. The 2023 symposium is headlined by a panel of prominent, successful, and new head coaches in Brenda "Mock" Brown, head women's coach at East Tennessee State; Brooks Savage, head men's coach at East Tennessee State; Kevin Kuwik, head men's coach at Army West Point; and Jordan Mincy, had men's coach at Jacksonville.
Athletic Directors presenting include Mark Wharton of Chattanooga, Anthony Henderson of
Hampton, and Alex Ricker-Gilbert of Jacksonville. Also joining the lineup of speakers are Kristi Dosh, founder of Business of College Sports; Colton Houston of HD Intelligence; Jeff Schemmel of College Sport Solutions; and Rick Boyages of ShotQuality.
Panel discussions and breakout sessions include first-time head coaches, The AD/coach relationship, taking the reins (of an existing program), NIL, and an Athletic Director panel. The fan-favorite "Speed Dating" returns this year and allows for rapid networking to take place between the assistant coaches and administrators.
The three-word mantra of "Connect. Prepare. Lead." identifies the purpose of TopConnect. Since the inception of TopConnect in 2018, more than 50 assistant coach and assistant athletic director participants have been promoted to the next chair of head coach and athletic director, as well as a conference commissioner.
TopConnect (formerly Villa 7), originated in 2003 by then-VCU athletic director Dr. Richard Sander, identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major ADs providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.
McDonald is in his second year on the coaching staff at Bucknell after spending a year at Northern Illinois and the previous four at Towson. McDonald helped the Tigers to an 18-win season in 2017-18 and a 19-win season in 2019-20. The 2019-20 squad finished third in the Colonial Athletic Conference with a 12-6 record, and the squad placed a league-high five players on the All-CAA Team. The 2017-18 team jumped out to a 10-1 start, Towson's best as a Division I program, and was ranked as high as fourth in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll while also receiving votes in the Associated Press poll.
Prior to his tenure at Towson, McDonald worked under head coach Steve Masiello for two seasons at Manhattan. McDonald broke into the collegiate coaching ranks as a graduate assistant coach at Pittsburgh from 2013-15. In his first season, the Panthers won 26 games, the last of which was an NCAA Tournament first-round contest against Colorado. Pitt won 19 games and played in the NIT in 2014-15.
A native of Glen Arden, Md., McDonald played collegiately at Virginia Union and graduated in 2011 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, he worked as an assistant coach with the Team Takeover AAU program and then at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, where he helped the team win the 2012-13 Maryland state championship.
Congrats to our very own @_coachbmac on being selected to participate in the 2023 TopConnect Basketball Symposium.#TheBisonWay pic.twitter.com/tEBYadEeQe
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) June 11, 2023
Now in its sixth year, TopConnect develops educational programming that allows top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders and speakers. The 2023 symposium is headlined by a panel of prominent, successful, and new head coaches in Brenda "Mock" Brown, head women's coach at East Tennessee State; Brooks Savage, head men's coach at East Tennessee State; Kevin Kuwik, head men's coach at Army West Point; and Jordan Mincy, had men's coach at Jacksonville.
Athletic Directors presenting include Mark Wharton of Chattanooga, Anthony Henderson of
Hampton, and Alex Ricker-Gilbert of Jacksonville. Also joining the lineup of speakers are Kristi Dosh, founder of Business of College Sports; Colton Houston of HD Intelligence; Jeff Schemmel of College Sport Solutions; and Rick Boyages of ShotQuality.
Panel discussions and breakout sessions include first-time head coaches, The AD/coach relationship, taking the reins (of an existing program), NIL, and an Athletic Director panel. The fan-favorite "Speed Dating" returns this year and allows for rapid networking to take place between the assistant coaches and administrators.
The three-word mantra of "Connect. Prepare. Lead." identifies the purpose of TopConnect. Since the inception of TopConnect in 2018, more than 50 assistant coach and assistant athletic director participants have been promoted to the next chair of head coach and athletic director, as well as a conference commissioner.
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