University of Akron men’s basketball head coach Keith Dambrot announced on Thursday that Steve McNees has been promoted as the team’s director of basketball operations.

McNees’ promotion is pending approval by the University’s Board of Trustees.

"Steve has been a valuable part in the success of our program, both as a player and as a coach," Dambrot said. "He has paid his dues and has worked hard to bring a player’s perspective to coaching our student-athletes. His addition makes our staff one of the few in Division I – if not the only one – comprised entirely of former student-athletes who played collegiately for the head coach."

"I am very excited to continue my coaching career here at Akron and I am very thankful for the opportunity Coach Dambrot has given me," McNees said. "I love the game of basketball and I love this University; continuing to be a part of both is something I do not take lightly. I will give my best effort to help take our program to the next level."

McNees has spent the last three seasons on the Zips’ basketball staff, most recently as the interim director of basketball operations. He took over basketball operations duties from Dan Peters in December. Peters took a leave of absence on December 16, to battle pancreatic cancer and will officially begin his retirement on Friday, Aug. 1, after more than 30 years of coaching collegiate basketball.

Before assuming his interim role, McNees spent the previous two-plus seasons as the team’s video coordinator (2012-13) and an administrative assistant in 2011-12.

In his four seasons as a student-athlete with the Zips, McNees broke the school record for games played, appearing in 141 of 142 possible games. He helped Akron to two Mid-American Conference Tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances (2009, 2011), an NIT appearance (2008) and a spot in the 2010 College Basketball Invitational. He was a part of the class of 2011, which led UA to 94 wins, third-most by any class in program history.

McNees averaged 7.0 points per game (981 points) for his career and also set the school record for minutes played in a season (1,135) during the 2010-11 campaign. He connected on 221-of-638 3-point attempts (34.6 percent) and had 318 assists to just 178 turnovers. His 318 total assists rank seventh in the Akron record book. McNees was named to the MAC All-Freshman team (2007-08) and the MAC All-Tournament team as a sophomore (2008-09).

After his senior season, McNees traveled to Austria to play basketball but returned to Akron to pursue a career in coaching, following in is father’s footsteps.

McNees, a 2006 graduate of Shenango High School in New Castle, Pa., earned a bachelors in sports management from Akron in 2010 and completed his masters work in Sports Administration while concluding his playing career (2011).

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