Cameron Dollar

For the American mixed martial arts fighter see Cameron Dollar (fighter).
Cameron Dollar
Biographical details
Born (1975-12-09) December 9, 1975 (age 49)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Playing career
1993–1997UCLA
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997–1998UC Irvine (assistant)
1998–1999Southern California College
1999Georgia (assistant)
1999–2002Saint Louis (assistant)
2002–2009Washington (assistant)
2009–2017Seattle
2017–2021Washington (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall118–160
Tournaments3–2 (CBI)

Cameron Dollar (born December 9, 1975)[1] is an American college basketball coach who was most recently an assistant coach for the Washington Huskies. He was previously an assistant coach at Washington before serving as the head coach for the Seattle Redhawks.[2] Dollar played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, and was a member of their 1995 national championship team. In the championship game against Arkansas, he replaced injured starter Tyus Edney.[3]

Early life

Dollar was born in Atlanta.[4] His father Donald was a longtime high school basketball coach in Georgia who won three state championships and more than 600 games.[4] Dollar's mother was murdered in Atlanta when Cameron was four years old. Her killer has never been identified.[5]

Dollar played at Douglass High School in Atlanta as a sophomore under his father. After his father briefly stopped coaching to become a school administrator, Dollar attended a pair of prep schools in Maryland.[4]

College career

While in Maryland, Dollar was recruited to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) by Bruins assistant coach Mark Gottfried. Dollar attended UCLA in the fall of 1993.[5] Leading up to the final game against Arkansas in the 1995 NCAA tournament, the team was uncertain of the status of Tyus Edney, their starting point guard, who had injured his wrist in the semifinals against Oklahoma State.[5] After Edney did not return after leaving less than three minutes into the Arkansas game, Dollar played 36 minutes and contributed eight assists and four steals as UCLA won the championship game, 89–78.[6] Asked if UCLA would have won without Dollar's performance, then-UCLA coach Jim Harrick said, "Absolutely not."[5] Earlier in the tournament against Missouri, Dollar inbounded the ball with 4.8 seconds left in the game to Edney, who drove the length of the court and hit a bank shot as time expired to win 75–74 in the second round. Dollar would repeat the feat himself 2 years later in the 1997 NCAA tournament, going coast to coast and hitting the game winner against Iowa State to advance to the Elite 8.[7]

Dollar started in his last two seasons, and the Bruins won three Pacific-10 Conference championships. During his four-year career, Dollar averaged 5.0 points, 3.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds. "His leadership qualities were off the charts," Harrick said. "He was always an extension of the coach on the floor."[5]

Coaching career

At age 22, Dollar was the country's youngest college coach when he was first hired as a head coach at Southern California College,[2][4] a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school (now known as Vanguard University). He served ten years (1999–2009) as an assistant with Saint Louis and Washington under head coach Lorenzo Romar,[2][4] who was an assistant at UCLA during Dollar's playing career.[4][5] At Washington, Dollar received a one-month suspension in 2002 for a recruiting violation.[8][9]

Dollar was hired in the spring of 2009 as the head coach of Seattle, which was transitioning to compete in Division I after dropping out in 1980.[5][10] He hired his father as an assistant.[4] Dollar was fired after eight seasons. He was re-hired as an assistant at Washington under new coach Mike Hopkins.[11]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Southern California College Lions (Golden State Athletic Conference) (1998–1999)
1998–99 Southern California College 11–22 5–9 6th[12]
Southern California College: 11–22 (.333) 5–9 (.357)
Seattle Redhawks (NCAA Division I independent) (2009–2012)
2009–10 Seattle 17–14[13][14]
2010–11 Seattle 11–20[15]
2011–12 Seattle 12–15[16]
Seattle Redhawks (Western Athletic Conference) (2012–2017)
2012–13 Seattle 8–22 3–15 10th
2013–14 Seattle 13–17 5–11 7th
2014–15 Seattle 18–16 7–7 T–4th CBI Semifinals
2015–16 Seattle 15–17 7–7 4th CBI Quarterfinals
2016–17 Seattle 13–17 5–9 6th
Seattle University: 107–138 (.437) 27–46 (.370)
Total: 118–160 (.424)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal

Dollar has three children.[4] His brother Chad served as an assistant coach at Arkansas State.[17] Dollar is a Christian.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Northwest Coach Profiles: Cameron Dollar". nwsportsbeat.com. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Seattle University hires Dollar as head coach". ESPN.com. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Seattle student sinks buzzer-beater on Cameron Dollar". go.com. Archived from the original on 2010-04-26. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Seattle University - SU Magazine - Cover Story - Top Dollar". seattleu.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Crowe, Jerry (December 14, 2009). "Ex-Bruin Cameron Dollar: From 'coach on the floor' to just coach". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Dufresne, Chris (April 4, 1995). "A Big Return From Dollar". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020.
  7. ^ Kawakami, Time (March 20, 1995). "A Happy Edneying for UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020.
  8. ^ "Washington sanctions assistant coach for recruiting violations". ESPN.com. 3 October 2002. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. ^ "NCAA to announce findings on Huskies on Thursday". ESPN.com. 17 July 2003.[dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Caple: Dollar aims to put Seattle U back on the national radar". ESPN.com. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Washington hires Cameron Dollar as assistant coach" (Press release). q13Fox.com. March 26, 2017. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  12. ^ "GSAC Men's Basketball". 20 September 2000. Archived from the original on 20 September 2000.
  13. ^ "Seattle Redhawks Basketball 2009-10 Schedule - Redhawks Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  14. ^ "Seattle rewards Cameron Dollar". go.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  15. ^ "Seattle Redhawks Basketball 2010-11 Schedule - Redhawks Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  16. ^ "Seattle Redhawks Basketball 2011-12 Schedule - Redhawks Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  17. ^ "Inside the lives of five top college hoops assistants". ESPN.com. 26 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.