The men's basketball team and staff gathered together with family and fans in the Purcell Pavilion on April 13th.
One of the most respected assistant coaches at the collegiate level, Anthony Solomon has been associated with the Notre Dame men's basketball program for seven seasons. Solomon, who served as an assistant coach on the Irish coaching staff from 2000-03, returned to Notre Dame in May of 2008 to begin his second stint as a member of head coach Mike Brey's coaching staff in 2008-09. Solomon works with the Irish guards in addition to overseeing Notre Dame's national recruiting efforts.
During his coaching tenure at Notre Dame, Irish squads have enjoyed unparalleled success and have been ranked among the best in the BIG EAST Conference. In his seven seasons on the Irish staff, Solomon has been part of Notre Dame teams that have compiled a 159-77 (.674) record and 76-44 (.633) mark in BIG EAST play and have made six NCAA Tournament appearances. Notre Dame teams with Solomon on the bench have won 20 or more games and registered 10 or more BIG EAST regular-season victories on six occasions.
In his first three seasons on Brey's staff, Notre Dame teams posted three consecutive 20-win campaigns and three straight 10-win regular seasons in the BIG EAST and earned an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament field. In his first year with the program, Notre Dame won the 2001 BIG EAST West Division Championship and finished with a then school-record 11-5 conference regular-season mark. The following season, Notre Dame produced a 22-11 mark and finished in the BIG EAST West Division with a 10-6 final regular-season record. The Irish fashioned a 24-10 campaign and posted a second consecutive 10-6 league mark while advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time since 1987. Notre Dame was the only BIG EAST team to advance to NCAA tournament competition and win 10 or more games each of those three seasons.
Solomon departed Notre Dame following the conclusion of the 2002-03 campaign when he was named head coach at St. Bonaventure University and served in that capacity through the conclusion of the 2006-07 campaign. In 2007-08, Solomon was a member of the University of Dayton men's basketball staff. He helped the Flyers to a 23-11 record that season and a spot in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Dayton also was ranked for four weeks during the season and climbed to as high as 14th in the polls.
Since returning to Notre Dame four years ago, Irish teams have earned three consecutive NCAA berths and had four consecutive 20-win campaigns. Notre Dame has finished with a 93-45 (.674) record overall and 45-27 (.625) mark in BIG EAST play. In his first stint with the Irish, Notre Dame compiled a 66-31 record for a .680 winning percentage and a 31-17 mark (.646) in the BIG EAST.
Prior to Solomon's three-year stint at Notre Dame, he was a member of the Clemson staff in 1998 as an assistant athletic director for basketball operations and was promoted to assistant coach in June of 2000. No stranger to being an assistant in a major college basketball conference, Solomon spent six years in the Atlantic Coast Conference coaching at Virginia, his alma mater, and Clemson.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Delaware under Steve Steinwedel, in 1988-89. He then moved to Bowling Green the following season and spent three seasons (1989-92) there, helping the Falcons reach the National Invitation Tournament on two occasions.
Solomon then took a position as an assistant at Manhattan College for the 1992-93 campaign.
Following that one season, Solomon moved to the University of Richmond for the 1993-94 campaign, before returning to his alma mater. He coached at Virginia under Jeff Jones from 1994-98, serving as coordinator of recruiting and player development. During Solomon's tenure at Virginia, the Cavaliers advanced to the NCAA tournament twice, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 1995, when the team tied for the regular season ACC crown.
Solomon enrolled at Virginia as a student in the fall of 1983, earned a basketball scholarship and was a four-year letterwinner. Virginia made three NCAA tournament appearances, earned one NIT berth and won 78 games during his four-year tenure. Solomon was a member of the `84 team that advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Seattle, Wash.
Solomon, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in rhetoric and communication studies, is married to the former Tracy Coleburn, a former track standout at Virginia. The couple has two daughters, Maya Anne and Kamra Mae, and a son, Anthony Jr.
