When 1991-95 Duke basketball reserve guard Kenny Blakeney arrived at Howard in 2019, the Bisons hadn’t punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament since their new head coach was a freshman under Mike Krzyzewski for the eventual 1992 national champions. At the time, the program had recorded only one winning record this century.

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Blakeney, making his head coaching debut back home in Washington, D.C., didn’t see instant success. No, the Bison finished 4-29 in his first season at the helm.

Fast forward five years. The 52-year-old Blakeney and his Howard program have reached the Big Dance in consecutive campaigns, and they’ve reeled off three straight winning seasons.

And he landed among the “15 coaches on the rise” that national hoops guru Jon Rothstein named this week. Rothstein summed up what makes Blakeney a unique talent to watch in 2024-25 and beyond:

“Blakeney has led the Bison to back-to-back appearances in the last two NCAA Tournaments. A strong recruiter who has added multiple players from power conferences…Blakeney has the pedigree, temperament, and coaching ability to continue to ascend.”

Following his Duke basketball career, Kenny Blakeney (now 61-76 as a head coach) quickly joined the coaching staff at James Madison for the 1995-96 season. He also made stops as an assistant at La Salle, Delaware, Seton Hall, Marshall, Harvard, and Columbia before becoming head coach at Howard.

One of Blakeney’s assistants is 2010-14 Blue Devil guard Tyler Thornton.

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