Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Pitt (Exhibition) on October 19, 2025 , Loss , 74, to, 81
Men's Basketball
at Pitt (Exhibition)
Final
74
-
81
Providence College Athletics
Former Providence College Head Coach Joe Mullaney Dies
3/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2000
Providence, R.I.-The man credited with putting Providence College basketball on the national map, former head coach Joe Mullaney, died this morning at 12:35 a.m. in Providence. He was 75 years old.
Mullaney, the all-time winningest coach in Providence College history with 319 wins, was coach of the Friars from 1955-69 and again from 1981-85. In 18 seasons as head coach of the Friars, Mullaney's teams recorded a 319-164 mark for a .660 winning percentage. During that time, Mullaney led two teams to the NIT Championship in 1961 and 1963 while coaching six All-Americans, including John Egan (1959, 61), Lenny Wilkens (1960), Jim Hadnot (1961, 62), Vin Ernst (1962, 63), John Thompson (1964) and Jimmy Walker (1965, 66, 67).
Besides the two NIT titles, Mullaney coached the Friars to four other NIT appearances and three NCAA appearances.
During the 1960s only UCLA and Kentucky had better winning percentages that Mullaney's Providence College teams.
A three-time New England Coach of the Year, Mullaney went on to a highly successful coaching career in the NBA and ABA, serving as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Kentucky Colonels, the Utah Stars and the Memphis Sounds. During his pro basketball tenure, Mullaney saw his teams advance to the World Championship game three times.
The author of nine 20-win seasons at Providence, Mullaney later coached in Italy and at Brown University before returning to PC in 1981.
Mullaney grew up in Queens, New York, and went on to play college basketball at Holy Cross, where he teamed with Bob Cousey to help lead the Crusaders to the 1947 NCAA title. Following graduation, he served in the FBI before taking a coaching job at Norwich University in Vermont.
In 1955, then Providence College president, Father Robert Slavin hired Mullaney and as college basketball fans in Rhode Island know, the rest is history.
Over 700 people attended a testimonial dinner in Providence on February 5th honoring Mullaney at the Providence Convention Center. During that dinner, the basketball proper in PC's Alumni Hall was named in honor of the former head coach - The Joe Mullaney Gymnasium.
Mullaney is survived by his wife, Jane, and five children: Joe, Jr., John, Paul, Tom and Mary Ellen. All five children are Providence College graduates.
--FRIARS--
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