For 40 minutes a night, Marist men’s basketball head coach John Dunne paces up and down the sideline, constantly barking. He screams on nearly every possession, flailing his arms at his players and referees. To show for it, 2011 MAAC and 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) championship banners hang in Saint Peter’s Run Baby Run Arena, where he spent the first part of his route to more victories than any coach in MAAC history.
Off the floor, Dunne is mellow. He values everyone’s opinion, adapts, admits his mistakes and goes above and beyond for his squad. Above all else, he takes the spotlight off himself, redirecting it to his staff and players.
Followers of Red Fox basketball know the pride Dunne’s staff takes in defense. In 2025-26, Marist finished 20th in the country in field goal percentage allowed (40.3%), fifth in scoring defense (63.8) and second in 3-point defense (28.3%). They ranked fifth in effective field goal percentage, finishing top thirty in each of the past three seasons.
“His reputation as a coach is as high as you can get in our profession,” said associate head coach Dalip Bhatia. “[Opponents] know if they play Marist and the Coach Dunne team, they’re gonna be in for a rock fight.”
Dunne claims his defensive identity stems from his background, taking something from everyone he worked for. He immediately shifted the focus toward Steve Clifford’s successful defensive tendencies at Division II Adelphi from 1996 to 1998 and Louis Orr from Siena in the 2000-01 season.
The defensive success, however, began long before Dunne’s third coaching job. During his playing career at Division III Ithaca, he totaled 168 steals, the sixth most in program history. His 60 swipes in 1991-92 also ranks sixth in a single season in Bomber history, and he sits tied for 15th with 52 the year prior.
When he entered the coaching world, a new characteristic flourished: loyalty. He displayed that loyalty in back-to-back years, beginning with his continual commitment to Siena. Just before the turn of the century, head coach Paul Hewitt took a chance on Dunne.
“I had interviewed at Siena knowing I wasn’t going to get the job, and he just called me out of the blue and offered me the third assistant job,” said Dunne.
After the 1999-00 season, Hewitt took the head coaching job at Georgia Tech, but Dunne remained loyal to Siena with Orr taking over the reins. The two moved up to Seton Hall together after that season.
“Those five years were pretty instrumental in my growth for the [defensive] side of the floor,” said Dunne.
Before his tenure in Loudonville, Dunne faced a dilemma. At 27 years old, Adelphi likely would have hired him for the head coaching vacancy left by Clifford. This, of course, comes with a substantially better salary, compared to the third assistant at mid-major Division I Manhattan University, but his love for the game persisted.
“You don’t pick jobs for money in this business,” said Dunne. “Level was never important to me. I just loved the game and wanted to eventually be a head coach.”
He resided with the Jaspers he coached. At 28 years old, he lived in the residence halls learning “it’s not all fun and roses.” Manhattan finished 5-22 in 1998-99, but he remained dedicated to the sport, earning a head coaching position within the next decade at Saint Peter’s: the third MAAC program of his career.
The loyalty he previously displayed returned to him in the form of Bhatia, who joined during Dunne’s second season and will now enter his 14th season with Dunne across two stints.
“For me to leave, it would take a very extraordinary opportunity,” said Bhatia.
Dunne increased the Peacocks’ win total in each of his first five seasons, ballooning from five in 2006-07 to 20 in 2010-11. His approach to building a winning culture revolves around recruits checking three major boxes: talent, high character and academics. Of the recruits who completed their eligibility at Saint Peter’s, 100 percent graduated under Dunne.
“I don’t want to have to fight with guys,” said Dunne. “Go to class, and be on time. Respect people on campus..”
These high-character freshmen started over upperclassmen in Dunne’s second season. He built a foundation with these players. While every aspect of the team strengthened, the wins took longer to follow. It boils down to having faith in the turnaround; Dunne’s squad completed it in 2010-11 with three consecutive wins in the MAAC tournament and a bid to the dance.
“There’s no better way to do it,” said Dunne. “It was one of the better moments in my life.”
Saint Peter’s eventually lost in the First Round of the NCAA tournament to Purdue, but Dunne’s Peacocks had more success in a different tournament six years later. Once more, he took the spotlight off himself.
Days after dropping the MAAC Semifinals to the eventual champions, Iona, Dunne called his team’s leaders into his office to discuss their invitation to the CIT.
“I’m not forcing your hand on this. It’s up to you, but if we play, we have to be all in or let’s not do it,” Dunne said of his conversation with his players.
Saint Peter’s began the tournament with back-to-back comeback road wins over Albany and Texas State, followed by a dominant 26-point victory over Furman in front of a sold out Run Baby Run Arena. In a tied game with three seconds remaining against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, he ran a long inbound pass to the frontcourt, called timeout, ran a special play never run before and drew the foul. When describing the play, Dunne pointed out exactly what transpired on the meeting room table in his office, engraved with the McCann court decal. Trevis Wyche hit the first free throw, intentionally missed the second and the Peacocks won the tournament.
Whenever Dunne thinks about success, he reverts back to his current team, Marist, and his desire to bring a championship to Poughkeepsie, the place he has called home since 2018.
Dunne succeeded Mike Maker, who compiled the lowest winning percentage of any coach in program history. From 2014 to 2018, Maker’s Red Foxes accumulated a 28-97 record, 18-60 in MAAC play, not once amassing over eight total wins or more than five in MAAC play. The team’s win total ballooned to 12 in Dunne’s initial season.
Though still empty-handed in bringing home the Red Foxes’ first NCAA Tournament berth since 1987, the Dunne family has “thoroughly enjoyed” Marist.
“It’s been a blessing all around for the entire family,” said Dunne.
In typical fashion for the head coach, he credits the people around him. Despite the “volatile” collegiate basketball world, everyone from Athletic Director Tim Murray to President Kevin Weinman to his high-character players supported Dunne to help him stay at Marist. In 2022 and 2025, he signed extensions with the Red Foxes over other offers.
Marist finished 10-19 the season after his first extension but finished closer than ever to winning the conference behind three consecutive tournament wins on the heels of Patrick Gardner’s 21 points and 10 rebounds per night.
“I’ve coached a lot of guys that have performed well in the MAAC tournament over the years,” said Dunne. “I’ve been doing it 20 years now, but that was probably the best.”
By the time he inked his second extension, Dunne also made history in a different way. He never named a captain in his 20-year head coaching career; that all changed with Jadin Collins-Roberts.
“He’s been the constant man, and his leadership by example in his preparation, toughness and attitude has been second to none,” said Dunne without being asked about Collins-Roberts.
In three years, the captain started in each of Marist’s 92 games, amassing a 57-35 record. The two built a relationship “different from anyone he’s coached,” said Collins-Roberts, based on respect and trust to the point that they can talk about anything, on and off the court. To Dunne’s delight, Collins-Roberts will return for a fourth campaign at Marist despite earning his undergraduate degree in three years.
“It would have been a mistake to leave Marist behind me,” said Collins-Roberts.
Marist’s captain, like plenty of players over the past two decades, bought into what Dunne built because in the end, none of it is about any one person. When it comes to Dunne, success stems from the teams he builds around him and the culture he instills.
Edited by Nate Shoemaker and Max Rosen
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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