Babson College head men’s basketball coach Stephen Brennan announced on Wednesday that Matthew Droney ’17 has been elevated to the program’s full-time assistant coach, effective immediately.
Droney returned to his alma mater as a part-time assistant coach prior to the 2019-20 campaign and helped the Beavers return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since winning the national championship in 2017. Babson won its first nine games to match the best start in school history, rising as high as 12th in the D3hoops.com national poll, and finished the year at 20-7 overall.
Despite being limited to just 10 games because of COVID-19 in 2021, Droney helped the Green and White go 8-2.
“I’m excited to promote Matt to a full-time assistant coaching position,” commented Brennan. “He is our first Babson alum to take on this role. Matt’s leadership, toughness and work ethic as a player have helped him become an outstanding assistant coach and recruiter. He helped us matriculate a strong first-year recruiting class and his ability to build authentic relationships with current and prospective student-athletes is a huge asset to our program.
“I look forward to seeing Matt’s continued growth as a coach and have high expectations for his ability to impact our student-athletes on and off the court.”
Droney returned to Babson following a successful one-year stint as an assistant men’s basketball coach at fellow NEWMAC member MIT in 2018-19. The Engineers captured their first regular season conference title since 2013 and finished the year at 23-5 overall after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
During his one season in Cambridge, Droney coached three all-conference and all-region selections, served as the program’s recruiting coordinator, and was responsible for scouting opponents.
Prior to MIT, Droney spent the 2017-18 campaign as an assistant coach and assistant facilities director at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. During his time with the Brewers, he was involved in both recruiting and player development as the program reached the postseason for the just the fifth time in program history.
Along with his collegiate coaching experience, Droney co-founded and serves as an assistant coach for The Basketball Tournament (TBT) squad We Are D3, which made its debut in the summer of 2018.
“I want to sincerely thank Coach Brennan and Mike Lynch for hiring me as the full-time assistant coach. Coach B has been an instrumental mentor in my life and young coaching career, and I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done for me to date. I look forward to working for him every day and am excited about the possibilities within our program.
“As a Babson alum, I have a great deal of pride for this school and program. It is our responsibility to uphold the program’s strong tradition and to put our student-athletes in the best position to succeed as students, athletes, and most importantly young men following graduation.”
After beginning his collegiate career at Stonehill College, Droney transferred to Babson prior to the 2014-15 campaign and played a key role in the best three-year stretch in program history. The Beavers went 29-3 and reached the Final Four for the first time in school history in 2015, advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2016 and finished 31-2 on the way to winning the program’s first Division III national championship in 2017.
