Killings to Return for Men’s Basketball

By Carter Schum | March 30, 2026

          Photo Credit: UAlbany Athletics

University at Albany Athletic Director Mark Benson recently announced in an interview with the Times Union that Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dwayne Killings would return for the 2026-27 season. 

The Times Union reported that Killings signed a year extension at the end of the 2024-25 season that would now see his contract end at the conclusion of the upcoming 2026-27 season. Killings was hired in March of 2021, as he initially signed a five year contract with UAlbany. This came after he previously served as an assistant coach at Temple, UConn and Marquette. 

In his tenure, Killings has posted an overall record of 62-97.

The Great Danes are coming off of a season riddled with injuries, finishing with an overall record of 11-21 and a conference mark of 7-10, falling to the UMass Lowell Riverhawks in the America East quarterfinals after getting to the semi-finals in the 24-25 season. 

With his position secure for next season, Killings will look to begin building his roster. The Great Danes have a commitment from three-star guard Tyler Jones out of the Christ School in North Carolina, who as of now is the only high school recruit committed for next season. Retention will be a key factor in building on last season.

Okechukwu Okeke, who averaged 10.8 points, 4.9 assists and 2.1 blocks a game last season, announced he would be entering the transfer portal with the hopes of gaining an additional year of eligibility from the NCAA. 

Coach Killings is facing the prospect of coaching without a contract for next year, but like the 2024-25 season where he was facing the same prospect, it is possible that the Great Danes can rebound and break a streak of ten plus years without making the NCAA tournament.