Keith Dambrot
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Akron |
| Conference | MAC |
| Record | 294–133 (.688) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
October 26, 1958 Akron, Ohio |
| Alma mater | University of Akron |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1984–1986 | Tiffin |
| 1986–1989 | Eastern Michigan (asst.) |
| 1989–1991 | Ashland |
| 1991–1993 | Central Michigan |
| 1998–2001 | St. Vincent–St. Mary HS |
| 2001–2004 | Akron (asst.) |
| 2004–present | Akron |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 402–203 (.664) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4× MAC East Division championship (2007, 2012, 2013, 2016) 3× MAC Tournament championship (2009, 2011, 2013) |
|
| Awards | |
| 2× MAC Coach of the Year (2013, 2016) | |
Keith B. Dambrot (born October 26, 1958) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach of the University of Akron. Dambrot also coached NBA Star, LeBron James, while serving as head coach of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
Dambrot began his head coaching career at Division II schools Tiffin University for two seasons from 1984 to 1986 and at Ashland University for two seasons from 1989 to 1991, At Ashland, he led his team each year into the NCAA D-II Men's Basketball tournament. In between, he was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University.
Dambrot replaced Charlie Coles as coach of Central Michigan University for the 1991–92 season. However, he only lasted two seasons, and was fired for making a controversial comment before a game against Miami University.
The incident at Central Michigan had essentially blackballed Dambrot from college coaching. In 1998, he became the head coach at St. Vincent–St. Mary HS in Akron, Ohio. During his three seasons there, he guided the Fighting Irish to a 69–10 record. During the last two years of his tenure as coach there, future NBA star LeBron James was on his squad, and they won two consecutive state championships, as well as were nationally ranked. Before playing for Dambrot, James had met with him, and followed up on the accusations made about him during his stint at Central Michigan. In his book, Shooting Stars, James said that he did not believe that Dambrot was a racist.
Dambrot left St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2001 to return to coaching as an assistant at the collegiate level at his alma mater, the University of Akron. Since becoming the head coach of Akron in 2004, Dambrot has led Akron to the postseason in four-straight and five of the last six seasons – participating in the NCAA Tournament in 2009, 2011 and 2013, the National Invitation Tournament in 2008 and 2006 and the College Basketball invitational (CBI) in 2010. Akron has won 20-plus games in each of the last six years – one of only 20 teams in the country to do so – and posted 19 victories in Dambrot's first season (2004–05). The Zips have won at least 21 games in each of the last 11 seasons – a feat unmatched in program history. Additionally, Akron has competed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament title game in six of the last eight years and is just the second league school to have appeared in at least five-straight finals (Miami (Ohio) 1997–2001).
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