Tim Cohane (born May 22, 1942) 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,

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

entrepreneur and sports lawyer.

Early life

Cohane played basketball at

Archbishop Stepinac High School Archbishop Stepinac High School is an American Single-sex education, all-boys' Catholic Church, Roman Catholic high school in White Plains, New York. It was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the 2009–2010 school yea ...

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

where he won a

Catholic High School Athletic Association The Catholic High School Athletic Association or CHSAA is a high school athletic association made up of Catholic high schools based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. It is the largest Catholic high school athletic league ...

championship in 1960. After high school, Cohane enrolled at

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

on a full basketball scholarship. After his Freshman season, he transferred to the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

and played for that school's

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. After graduating, Cohane volunteered for duty in Vietnam on the rivers of the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

. For his service, he was awarded two

Bronze Stars The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

and a dozen other commendations. After a year in Vietnam, Cohane was stationed in

Naval Station Newport Naval Station Newport (NAVSTA Newport) is a United States Navy base located in the city of Newport, Rhode Island, Newport and the town of Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice Scho ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

where he coached a basketball team on-base.

Coaching career

After leaving the service, Cohane spent four years at

Iona Preparatory School Iona Preparatory School, or simply Iona Prep, is an independent, Catholic, all-male, college-preparatory school located in the north end of New Rochelle, New York, in suburban Westchester County. It consists of the Upper School for Grades 9 thr ...

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

where he taught history and coached the boys' basketball team. Cohane was then hired by

Manhattanville College Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...

which had recently begun accepting male students; he became the first coach of the school's men's basketball team. He led Manhattanville to consecutive appearances in the

NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine the NCAA Division III national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but no ...

in his final two seasons with the program. Cohane was hired away from Manhattanville by

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

where he admitted he "alienated half the administration" by complaining about recruiting problems. He resigned from the Dartmouth job shortly after the end of the 1982–83 season, his fourth with the school. After leaving Dartmouth, Cohane was introduced to the trading floor of

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

by a friend. Cohane was hired by

Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York City. It was one of the five List of investment banks, largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and a very profitabl ...

but later met and befriended Larry Rafferty and began working for Rafferty Securities. While working on Wall Street, he was hired to fill the coaching vacancy at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He spent two seasons as the unpaid head coach of the Mariners. Between his first three college head coaching jobs and his stint at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

, Cohane compiled an overall record of 223–236. Cohane resigned as head coach at Buffalo five games into the 1999–2000 season, as a result of an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

investigation in which he was alleged to have violated NCAA rules. He was replaced by Reggie Witherspoon as head coach of the Bulls. In 2004, Cohane filed a long-running lawsuit against the NCAA, the University at Buffalo, and the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

, accusing them of conspiring to remove him as coach. Among other things, Cohane alleged that the NCAA knew UB officials coerced players into implicating him; he claimed that UB officials threatened to strip Bulls players of their eligibility and block seniors from graduating unless they corroborated claims of violations by Cohane. On May 15, 2015, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

ruled in favor of the NCAA in the case. Cohane is also a 2005 graduate of the

Roger Williams University School of Law Roger Williams University School of Law is the law school of Roger Williams University, a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. It is the only law school in Rhode Island. It was established in 1993 as the first graduate degree program of R ...

, and has developed a law practice specializing in assuring due-process and related protections to coaches and student-athletes alike.genesisstrategicadvisors.com

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohane, Tim Place of birth missing (living people) 1943 births Living people United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Buffalo Bulls men's basketball coaches Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball coaches Manhattanville Valiants men's basketball coaches Merchant Marine Mariners men's basketball coaches Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players Roger Williams Hawks men's basketball coaches Roger Williams University alumni United States Naval Academy alumni American men's basketball players College of the Holy Cross alumni 20th-century American sportsmen