The Marquette University women’s basketball program has announced the hiring of Tony Greene as an assistant coach, head coach Megan Duffy announced Thursday afternoon.
Greene, regarded by his peers as one of the top assistants in the country, owns more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience and his career owns stops at Langston University (1994-08), Grambling State (2008-12), Texas Southern (2013-15), Toledo (2016-18) and Ole Miss (2018-20).
“We are extremely excited to welcome Tony, his wife Aniece and family to our Marquette community,” Duffy said. “Tony is a tremendous basketball coach and mentor who has shaped so many student-athletes lives in over 20 years in the business. His experience both on and off the court will be invaluable to our program, whether that is through recruiting, player development, scouting or in the greater Milwaukee community.”
During his career he has helped programs to postseason play on 11 occasions, including multiple trips to the NCAA tournament and WNIT. Under his tutelage, more than 30 players have earned all-conference accolades, including six All-America honorees, five conference players of the year, as well as multiple Academic All-Americans.
“Tony has been a winner throughout his career because of his great work ethic and tremendous character,” Duffy said. “He knows how to develop talent and will be an incredible teacher for our players.
“He has helped developed many of his student-athletes to become all-conference performers, All-Americans, and professionals,” Duffy added. “We can’t wait to have Tony impact both current and future Golden Eagles.”
A proven recruiter, Greene has helped assemble multiple nationally ranked recruiting classes during his tenure in the collegiate ranks. At Ole Miss (2018-20), he helped recruit a class, which included a pair of five-star prospects, ranked as high as 13th in the country and first in the Southeastern Conference. In 2012, his recruiting class ranked No. 6 among Mid-Majors by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 42 overall in the nation.
“My family and I are so honored to join the Marquette family,” Greene said. “Coach Duffy’s passion and vision for the program attracted us to this awesome opportunity. We can’t wait to embrace the program, the University, and the community.”
His final year at Toledo in 2017-18 saw another visit to the postseason for the Rockets with a trip to the WNIT, where UT won its first-round matchup against Wright State. Toledo finished the 2016-17 season at 25-9 overall, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning its first MAC Tournament since 2001. The Rockets tallied at least 20 wins for the first time in four years and their 25 victories tied for fifth most in school history.
Toledo also had a successful year during Greene’s first season with the Rockets, finishing 17-13 in 2015-16 with three all-conference honors.
Prior to Toledo, Greene spent three seasons at Texas Southern, where his primary focus was defense, point guard development and recruiting. The Lady Tigers compiled a 59-36 overall ledger (.621) during this time, including 47-6 (.887) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), advancing to the WNIT all three years.
Greene was part of a new direction in the program at Texas Southern, helping lead the Lady Tigers to their first-ever WNIT his first year in 2013, and mentoring eight All-SWAC players along the way — including three players who earned either player, newcomer or freshman of the year. TSU competed in the WNIT in each of his three seasons with the program, after capturing a share of the SWAC regular season crown in 2014-15, advancing to the SWAC Tournament Championship game in 2013-14 and winning the SWAC Tournament in 2012-13.
Prior to his time at Texas Southern, Greene had coaching stints at Grambling State (2008-12) and Langston (1994-2008).
In four years as an assistant at GSU, he helped guide the Tigers from last place to a fourth-place finish in the SWAC with post-season berths in the last two seasons. In 2012, his recruiting class ranked No. 9 nationally among Mid-Majors by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 42 overall in the nation.
Before Grambling State, he spent 13 years at Langston as an assistant coach and one year as head coach. During that period, he helped the Lions compile 244 victories and a 31-2 record in his last season.
Greene was named the 2001-02 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year. He also developed several fundraisers and scholarship campaigns while at Langston, including the Matthew Hatchett Scholarship Celebrity Weekend and the WNBA Celebrity Fundraiser Game.
Greene’s teams compiled a 54-1 conference record the last three seasons at Langston. As recruiting coordinator, he groomed seven players to play professionally, six going overseas and one to the WNBA, Kara Braxton. Braxton was selected with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2005 WNBA Draft.
As a student-athlete, Greene played at the junior college level for Langston’s men’s team — where he was selected as the DCCCD Conference Player of the Year. Greene left Langston with a bachelor’s in health and physical education in 1994.
Greene is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, the Black Coaches Association and the Women’s Basketball Association. Greene and his wife, Aniece, have four daughters, Toni, Nadia, De Naijia and Anieya and one son, Charm.
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