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Dennis Felton

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American basketball coach
Dennis Felton
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamProvidence
ConferenceBig East
Biographical details
Born (1963-06-21) June 21, 1963 (age 61)
Tokyo, Japan
Playing career
1981–1983Prince George's CC
1983–1985Howard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984Oxon Hill HS (assistant)
1985–1986Charles County CC (assistant)
1986–1990Delaware (assistant)
1990–1991Tulane (assistant)
1991–1992Saint Joseph's (assistant)
1992–1994Providence (assistant)
1994–1998Clemson (assistant)
1998–2003Western Kentucky
2003–2009Georgia
2014–2017Tulsa (assistant)
2017–2019Cleveland State
2019–2021Fordham (assistant)
2021–2023George Mason (associate HC)
2023–presentProvidence (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall206–189
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 Sun Belt regular season (2001–2003)
3 Sun Belt tournament (2001–2003)
SEC tournament (2008)

Dennis Alan Felton (born June 21, 1963) is an American basketball coach who is an assistant coach at Providence College. His previous positions included a stint as the associate head coach at George Mason University under then-head coach Kim English, and an assistant role at Fordham University. He is also the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Georgia, Western Kentucky University, and Cleveland State, and also served as a player personnel assistant for the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs.

Felton was born in Tokyo, Japan and spent his early years living in and visiting a variety of locales around the world, due to his father's career in the United States Air Force. His family eventually moved to Clinton, Maryland, a suburban town in the Washington, D.C., area, a short distance from Andrews Air Force Base. Felton graduated from Surrattsville High School in 1981 and went on to Prince George's Community College. He completed his athletic and academic careers at Howard University in 1985, where he was a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference All-Academic selection.

College coaching

Felton got his start in the coaching profession as an assistant basketball coach at Oxon Hill High School in 1984. He then became an assistant coach at Charles County Community College, for one season (1985–86) before moving on to University of Delaware as an assistant coach for four seasons (1986–90). Felton continued his collegiate career with one season each at Tulane University and St. Joseph's University. In 1992, he took an assistant's post at Providence College under Rick Barnes. That season began a 6-year apprenticeship with Barnes that included two with the Friars and four at Clemson University (1994–98). The six teams that Barnes and Felton coached together all posted winning seasons (including three 20-win campaigns), all played in the postseason (four NCAA berths, two in the NIT) and went 114–71, averaging 19 wins per year.

Western Kentucky

In the spring of 1998, just before Barnes left Clemson for Texas, Felton was named the head coach at Western Kentucky University. His first two Hilltopper squads went a combined 24–34. The 1999 team advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament title game. His Hilltopper teams won the Sun Belt Conference tournament titles in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Georgia

In April 2003 Felton was hired as the head coach at the University of Georgia. Felton also took assistant coaches Bert Tucker and Ken McDonald as well as associate head coach Pete Herrmann with him to Athens.

In his first four seasons at Georgia, Felton had compiled a 58–63 record with two NIT appearances while attempting to lead Georgia back from the severe disadvantages that previous coach Jim Harrick dealt the program. Despite having only 9 scholarship players in 2007–2008, Felton's Bulldogs completed a successful run in SEC tournament championship history. Entering the 2008 SEC men's basketball tournament as the lowest seed, Georgia won 4 games in 3 days to capture the conference tournament crown and the corresponding automatic berth in the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament. In their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002, the Bulldogs were defeated by Xavier University in the first round in Washington, D.C.

On January 29, 2009, Dennis Felton was fired as head coach of the UGA Men's Basketball team. This came with a losing streak that left the team with a 9–11 record in mid-season. He finished his career as the coach of UGA Men's Basketball team with an 84–91 record. Associate head coach Pete Herrmann finished the 2008–2009 season as the interim head coach.

Tulsa

Felton returned to college coaching after stints in the NBA, as an assistant coach on Frank Haith's staff at Tulsa.

Cleveland State

On March 24, 2017, Felton was hired as the head coach of Cleveland State University. On March 27, 2017 Felton was officially introduced as head coach. Felton's contract was for five years. On July 12, 2019, he was fired, along with his entire coaching staff.

Fordham

In 2019, Felton was hired as an assistant coach at Fordham University.

George Mason

In 2021, Felton was hired by Kim English to be the associate head coach at George Mason University. The Patriots went 34-29 in their two years on the staff.

Providence (second stint)

Felton, who coached at Providence College from 1992–94, returned to the Friars' coaching staff as an assistant in 2023, following English when he was named Providence's head coach in March.

NBA coaching career

During the 2009–2010 NBA season, Felton served on the scouting staff for the Phoenix Suns, mainly observing NCAA games in the Southeast. He was also a part of the Suns' war room during the NBA draft in June 2010, led by General Manager Steve Kerr and head coach Alvin Gentry.

On June 28, 2010, the New Jersey Nets announced that Felton would be an assistant coach for their Summer League team.

Prior to the start of the 2010–2011 NBA season, he was hired by the San Antonio Spurs as Director of Pro Player Personnel, a position he held through 2013.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Sun Belt Conference) (1998–2003)
1998–99 Western Kentucky 13–16 7–7 T–3rd
1999–00 Western Kentucky 11–18 8–8 5th
2000–01 Western Kentucky 24–7 14–2 1st (East) NCAA Division I Round of 64
2001–02 Western Kentucky 28–4 13–1 1st (East) NCAA Division I Round of 64
2002–03 Western Kentucky 24–9 12–2 1st (East) NCAA Division I Round of 64
Western Kentucky: 100–54 (.649) 54–20 (.730)
Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (2003–2009)
2003–04 Georgia 16–14 7–9 T–8th NIT First Round
2004–05 Georgia 8–20 2–14 12th
2005–06 Georgia 15–15 5–11 10th
2006–07 Georgia 19–14 8–8 T–5th NIT Second Round
2007–08 Georgia 17–17 4–12 11th NCAA Division I Round of 64
2008–09 Georgia 9–11 0–5
Georgia: 84–91 (.480) 26–59 (.306)
Cleveland State Vikings (Horizon League) (2017–2019)
2017–18 Cleveland State 12–23 6–12 T–8th
2018–19 Cleveland State 10–21 5–13 9th
Cleveland State: 22–44 (.333) 11–25 (.306)
Total: 206–189 (.522)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal

Felton is married to the former Melanie Smith, who is also a Howard alumna. The couple reside in Milton, Georgia with their two sons, Jazz and Nile. Jazz and Nile are both basketball players. Jazz was a part of Milton High School's state championship team as a freshman in 2009–2010. Jazz will attend WKU and will serve on Ray Harper's coaching staff.

References

  1. "Dennis Felton Georgia Bulldogs profile". University of Georgia. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  2. "Georgia fires men's basketball coach Dennis Felton". Athens, Georgia: USA Today. January 29, 2009. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  3. "Paper reports Felton out at Georgia". USA Today. 2010-09-25. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009.
  4. "TULSA'S HAITH NAMES THREE FORMER HEAD COACHES TO COACHING STAFF". Tulsa, Oklahoma: University of Tulsa. April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  5. "Dennis Felton Introduced as CSU Men's Basketball Coach". Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State University. March 27, 2017. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  6. Pluto, Terry (March 27, 2017). "New Cleveland State basketball coach Dennis Felton must hire a local assistant". Cleveland, Ohio: The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  7. "Cleveland State dismisses men's basketball coach Dennis Felton after two seasons". cleveland.com. Associated Press. July 12, 2019.
  8. "Three takeaways from Kim English's introductory press conference". 30 March 2023.
  9. Sugiura, Ken (March 9, 2011). "Recalling the tornado of 2008 SEC tournament". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  10. "Dennis Felton Tulsa profile". University of Tulsa. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  11. "Five-Star Basketball - Milton roster, schedule, highlights, news". March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

Links to related articles
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head basketball coaches

# denotes interim head coach

Georgia Bulldogs head basketball coaches

# denotes interim head coach

Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball head coaches
Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
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