Shawn Finney Hometown: Mullens, W.Va. Position: Associate Head Coach Alma Mater: Fairmont State, 1985

Shawn Finney, who has five years of experience as a head coach in Conference USA, joined Donnie Jones' staff at UCF as the associate head coach in April 2010. Finney has helped UCF achieve immediate success as the Knights have posted back-to-back 20-victory campaigns in his two years in Orlando.

In 2011-12, UCF went 22-11 and achieved many impressive firsts, including the program's first trip to the postseason National Invitation Tournament. The Knights also made their inaugural appearance in the Conference USA Championship semifinals, defeated league foes Memphis and UAB for the first time and defeated a top-5 ranked squad - No. 4 UConn - for the first time. The victory over UConn, which came at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, snapped the defending national champions' 16-game winning streak. Finney helped Keith Clanton become just the second Knight to garner All-C-USA First Team honors since the program joined the league in 2005. The power forward was also selected to the NABC All-District 11 First Team.

UCF achieved immediate success in 2010-11 as the Knights went 21-12 overall. The 20-win campaign was just the sixth for the program since the school joined the Division I ranks in 1984. After winning just 15 games the previous season, UCF went 13-0 in non-league play and won its first 14 contests to begin the year. The Knights recorded impressive non-league victories over 16th-ranked Florida, Miami, USF, UMass and Princeton. After knocking off Miami in late December, UCF entered the national rankings for the first time in program history. The Knights spent four total weeks in the rankings, including three weeks with a spot in both national polls.

In March, UCF was invited to participate in the College Basketball Invitational, marking the program's first at-large appearance in the postseason. The Knights advanced to the 16-team event's semifinals after defeating St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island. Finney helped a pair of UCF players received individual honors from C-USA at the conclusion of the regular season. Marcus Jordan was an All-C-USA Second Team selection, and Clanton was named to the all-league third team.

Finney, who was the head coach at Tulane from 2000-05, also worked under current UCF head coach Donnie Jones at Marshall, helping Jones rebuild the program at the school. The Mullens, W.Va., native helped the Thundering Herd to one of the top seasons in school history in 2009-10. Marshall went 24-10, including a program-best 11-5 mark in C-USA, and advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The appearance was the first trip to the postseason in 22 years for the school.

Marshall attracted several highly-touted recruits during Finney's tenure, including Hassan Whiteside, who led the country in blocks in 2009-10. He swatted 182 shots, the fourth-most in NCAA single-season history. Whiteside was named both the C-USA Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, and garnered Freshman All-America Second Team honors from The Sporting News. The post player was selected by Sacramento with the 33rd overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

During Finney's time leading the Tulane program, every student-athlete he recruited graduated. He recruited and coached 2004-05 C-USA All-Freshman Team selection Taylor Rochestie. During the 2001-02 campaign, Finney led the Green Wave to big wins over Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. The following year, Tulane again knocked off the Yellow Jackets.

Before accepting the job at Tulane, Finney was an assistant coach for Tubby Smith at Tulsa (1991-95), Georgia (1995-97) and Kentucky (1997-00). In all three of his campaigns at Kentucky, Finney helped the Wildcats advance to the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by the national title in 1998. The Wildcats went 35-4 that season. Finney mentored numerous future NBA players while at Kentucky, including Tayshaun Prince, Jammal Magloire and Nazr Mohammed.

During his two seasons at Georgia, the Bulldogs went a combined 45-19 and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. While working for Smith at Tulsa, Finney helped the Golden Hurricane claim Missouri Valley Conference titles and spots in the NCAA Tournament on two occasions. Tulsa advanced to the Sweet 16 during both trips to the Big Dance.

After concluding his tenure at Tulane, Finney worked as a television analyst for ESPN and then served as the director of basketball operations at Kentucky in 2005-06.

Finney started his coaching career at Garrett Community College in Maryland in 1985, before moving to Pikeville College in Kentucky for a year. From 1987-90, Finney served as an assistant at Randolph-Macon in Virginia.

He graduated from Fairmont State in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned his master's degree in sports management from Tulsa in 1992.

(updated 3/20/12)