Education
United States Military Academy.
basketball coach basketball player
United States Military Academy.
Dougherty played basketball at West Point for two years under coach Mike Krzyzewski before transferring to Cameron University, where he played his final two years and earned his degree in 1984. Dougherty began his coaching career in 1984 at Cameron, where he served as an assistant until 1988. He then moved on to take similar positions at Drake, Vanderbilt and South Carolina.
He was an assistant of Roy Williams at University of Kansas for many years.
He also served under Head Coach Eddie Fogler at Vanderbilt and South Carolina. On March 25, 2002, Dougherty was hired as the 18th head coach at, replacing Billy Tubbs.
Because Dougherty"s defensive-minded approach clashed with Tubbs" up-tempo, high scoring approach, the team struggled to adjust in his first year, winning just nine games. The next year they improved by three wins, with the season"s highlight coming with a nationally-televised 25-point victory over 10th-ranked Louisville, coached by Rick Pitino.
In 2004–2005, the Horned Frogs finished 21–14, advancing to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament.
However, after losing star guards Corey Santee and Marcus Shropshire to graduation, the Frogs failed to build on the National Institute of Technology momentum and stumbled to a 6–25 record in 2005–2006. This caused many boosters and local media figures to question whether or not Dougherty was the right person for the job. His 2006–2007 team made strides, finishing 13–17, but the season also included an eleven-game losing streak, which did little to quiet Dougherty"s critics.
Dougherty was fired by on March 16, 2008 after six seasons, only one of which had a winning record.
Dougherty was in Indianapolis working for IHoops, a joint venture between the National Basketball Association and National Collegiate Athletic Association that promotes youth basketball. On July 5, 2011, Dougherty went jogging and never returned.
His body was identified on July 8, 2011.