Cameron Dollar (born December 9, 1975) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who was most recently an assistant coach for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

. He was previously an assistant coach at Washington before serving as the head coach for the Seattle Redhawks. Dollar played college basketball for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, and was a member of their 1995 national championship team. In the championship game against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, he replaced injured starter Tyus Edney.

Early life

Dollar was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. His father Donald was a longtime high school basketball coach in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

who won three state championships and more than 600 games. Dollar's mother was murdered in Atlanta when Cameron was four years old. Her killer has never been identified. Dollar played at Douglass High School in Atlanta as a sophomore under his father. After his father briefly stopped coaching to become a school administrator, Dollar attended a pair of prep schools in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

College career

While in Maryland, Dollar was recruited to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) by Bruins assistant coach

Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach, basketball podcaster, and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketba ...

. Dollar attended UCLA in the fall of 1993. Leading up to the final game against

in the 1995 NCAA tournament, the team was uncertain of the status of Tyus Edney, their starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, who had injured his wrist in the semifinals against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. After Edney did not return after leaving less than three minutes into the Arkansas game, Dollar played 36 minutes and contributed eight assists and four steals as UCLA won the championship game, 89–78. Asked if UCLA would have won without Dollar's performance, then-UCLA coach Jim Harrick said, "Absolutely not." Earlier in the tournament against

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, Dollar inbounded the ball with 4.8 seconds left in the game to Edney, who drove the length of the court and hit a bank shot as time expired to win 75–74 in the second round. Dollar would repeat the feat himself 2 years later in the 1997 NCAA tournament, going coast to coast and hitting the game winner against Iowa State to advance to the Elite 8. Dollar started in his last two seasons, and the Bruins won three

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

championships. During his four-year career, Dollar averaged 5.0

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

, 3.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds. "His leadership qualities were off the charts," Harrick said. "He was always an extension of the coach on the floor."

Coaching career

At age 22, Dollar was the country's youngest college coach when he was first hired as a head coach at Southern California College, a

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) school (now known as Vanguard University). He served ten years (1999–2009) as an assistant with Saint Louis and Washington under head coach

Lorenzo Romar Lorenzo Romar (born November 13, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball, Loyola Marymount Lions, a position he has held since 2024. He pre ...

, who was an assistant at UCLA during Dollar's playing career. At Washington, Dollar received a one-month suspension in 2002 for a recruiting violation. Dollar was hired in the spring of 2009 as the head coach of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, which was transitioning to compete in Division I after dropping out in 1980. He hired his father as an assistant. Dollar was fired after eight seasons. He was re-hired as an assistant at Washington under new coach Mike Hopkins.

Head coaching record

Personal

Dollar has three children. His brother Chad served as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. Dollar is a Christian.

References

External links

Southern California College profile

Washington profile

Seattle profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollar, Cameron 1975 births Living people Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Atlanta College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Georgia Bulldogs basketball coaches Harlem Globetrotters players Point guards Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball coaches Seattle Redhawks men's basketball coaches UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Washington Huskies men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen