Michael Moynihan, who spent the last two seasons at Mississippi State and was part of the Bulldogs' program that finished as the runner-up in this past year's NIT, is in his first season on McNeese's new-look staff.
He has quickly established himself as a young up-and-coming coach and was recently named one of the Top 25 people to the Top Staffers list in Division I college basketball by CoachStat.net.
"Mike Moynihan comes to us from Mississippi State where he has been the director of basketball operations and a part of a very successful SEC program, working for a Hall of Fame level coach in Ben Howland," said McNeese head coach John Aiken. "He adds a recruiting base in Atlanta for us and is an extremely versatile young coach that I am excited to bring into the program. He has a lot of 'juice' and will enhance our program in many ways."
Moynihan arrived at Mississippi State after spending one year at George Mason as the director of operations under head coach Paul Hewitt.
Prior to his stint at George Mason, Moynihan spent one year as the video coordinator at Troy, where he worked with former MSU assistant Phil Cunningham. One of his duties was assisting with academics, and during his time at Troy, all nine senior players received their degrees. As a team, Troy posted a cumulative 3.45 GPA.
Moynihan went to Troy after serving as an assistant coach at Young Harris College, where he helped the Division II Mountain Lions to a 17-9 record in 2012-13 and a second-place finish in the Western Division. He recruited Isaiah Johnson, a first-team All-Peach Belt selection who was also named second-team Division II All-Southeast District by the NABC in 2014-15. Johnson was also named second-team All-Peach Belt and Georgia Basketball Coach’s Association (GBCA) Newcomer of the Year in 2013-14.
Before joining Young Harris, Moynihan spent one year as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, The University of North Georgia. He began his coaching career in 2010-11 as an assistant coach at Buford High School in Buford, Ga., helping lead the team to a Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AA State Championship appearance with a 24-8 overall record.
His stint at Buford High School followed a successful four-year playing career that concluded with All-Peach Belt honors at the North Georgia in 2009-10, where he averaged 14.4 points and 4.7 assists. He played two years with the Saints after spending the first two seasons of his career at Georgia State. Moynihan walked on to the Georgia State basketball team as a freshman and worked his way into the starting lineup as a sophomore.
Moynihan, the grandson of Charles “Lefty” Driesell, received his bachelor’s degree in management from North Georgia in 2010 after graduating from Centennial High School in metro Atlanta.
