Seth Vincent Greenberg (born April 18, 1956) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

broadcaster who works as an analyst for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. Prior to taking the position at ESPN he was a coach for 34 years, the last 22 as a head coach. Greenberg has been the head coach at Long Beach State, the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

, and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. He was a two-time ACC Coach of the Year.

Early life and college playing career

Seth Greenberg is one of the three sons of Marilyn and Ralph Greenberg of Plainview, New York. Older brother Brad also became a college basketball coach. After graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview in 1974, Greenberg attended

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

in New Jersey. Lettering for four years in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

under coach Al Lobalbo, Greenberg graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in broadcast journalism.

Coaching career

Assistant coach at Columbia, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and the University of Miami (1978–87)

From 1978 to June 1980, Greenberg was an assistant coach at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

under

Buddy Mahar Arthur "Buddy" Mahar (born April 29, 1945) is an American former college basketball coach. He most notably was the head coach of the Columbia Lions men's basketball team from 1978 to 1984. Coaching career After graduation from Boston State Co ...

. Greenberg later joined Roy Chipman as an assistant coach at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

from 1980 to 1983. In that era, Pittsburgh appeared in the NCAA Tournaments of

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

. For the 1983–84 season, Greenberg was an assistant on Terry Holland's

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

team that made the Final Four of the 1984 NCAA tournament. Greenberg later worked as an assistant under Bill Foster at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

from 1985 to 1987.

Long Beach State associate head coach (1987–90)

In 1987, Greenberg became associate head coach at Long Beach State under Joe Harrington. Long Beach State appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

s of 1988 and 1990.

Long Beach State head coach (1990–96)

Long Beach State promoted Greenberg to head coach in 1990. In six seasons with Greenberg as head coach, Long Beach State went 105–70, second behind

Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Reb ...

for the most wins in the program's history. Postseason appearances during the Greenberg era included the 1992 NIT, 1993 NCAA tournament, and 1995 NCAA tournament. In the 1992–93 season, Long Beach State also had its first

Top 25 A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few se ...

ranking in 14 years.Long Beach State 49ers Index , College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
/ref> On January 25, 1993, Long Beach State upset #1

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

64–49 at

Allen Fieldhouse Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas. It is home of the Kansas Jayhawks men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is named after Phog Allen, a former player and head coach for the Jayha ...

. Long Beach State won the Big West tournament in 1993 and 1995. While at Long Beach, Greenberg was a mentor of two successful future NBA players, Lucious Harris and

Bryon Russell Bryon Demetrise Russell (born December 31, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. During a National Basketball Association (NBA) career that spanned from 1993 to 2006, he played for the Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards a ...

South Florida (1996–2003)

Greenberg was head coach at the

from 1996 to 2003 and had a 108–100 record there. South Florida became the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

regular season champions in the 1999–00 season and made the NIT after the season. South Florida also made the

2002 NIT The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament.

Virginia Tech (2003–12)

In nine seasons at Virginia Tech, Greenberg attained a 170–123 record. Greenberg's tenure at Virginia Tech began with the school's final season in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004. Following his second season at Virginia Tech that included an appearance in the 2005 NIT, Greenberg won the ACC Coach of the Year award. In 2005, he helped donate 2,400 student tickets to the NIT game against Temple. In 2008, he increased the donations to 3000 tickets for students in all three NIT games played in Cassell Coliseum. During the 2006–07 season, Greenberg led the Hokies to a 22–12 record with signature victories against #5

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

on the road and #1

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

at home in an eight-day span. The victories landed the Hokies in the AP Top 25 for the first time in over a decade, and earned their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1996. They received a #5 seed in the West bracket, but fell to

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

in the second round. Again in 2007–08, Virginia Tech had over 20 wins. Virginia Tech also made the quarterfinals of the

2008 NIT The 2008 National Invitation Tournament (known through sponsorship as the MasterCard NIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2008 NCAA Div ...

. Greenberg earned his second ACC Coach of the Year award. On January 21, 2009 the Hokies defeated #1 Wake Forest, 78–71. Wake Forest was the only remaining undefeated team in the nation at the time. Virginia Tech made each NIT from

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

to 2011 and had its most successful season under Greenberg in 2009–10 with a 25–9 record. On February 27, 2011 the Hokies defeated #1 Duke in Cassell Coliseum. Greenberg's tenure as Virginia Tech's head coach ended in April 2012, when Athletic Director Jim Weaver fired him at a surprise news conference. Greenberg was "completely blindsided and shocked" by Weaver's decision. Greenberg was replaced by his former assistant,

James Johnson James Johnson may refer to: Artists, actors, authors, and musicians *James Austin Johnson (born 1989), American comedian & actor, ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member * James B. Johnson (born 1944), author of science nonfiction novels *James P. Joh ...

. Greenberg is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and volunteered to coach the USA Men's Basketball team at the 19th

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-s ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in July 2013.

Awards

Greenberg was inducted into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2012, and the Long Beach State Hall of Fame in 2013. In 1996 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Broadcasting career

Greenberg is a college basketball analyst for

Head coaching record

References

External links