| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 25, 1946 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Southern Mississippi |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1970–1979 | Holy Cross HS |
| 1979–1980 | Mississippi State (asst.) |
| 1980–1982 | Alabama (asst.) |
| 1982–2013 | Troy State/Troy |
| 2016–2018 | Texas A&M (special asst.) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 501–403 (.554) |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA Division I) 8–5 (NCAA Division II) 0–2 (NIT) 0–1 (CBI) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Donald D. Maestri Jr. (born October 25, 1946) is an American college basketball coach who was the head men's basketball coach at Troy University from 1982 to 2013. Prior to accepting this position, Maestri was an assistant coach at Mississippi State University from 1979 to 1980 and at the University of Alabama from 1980 to 1982. Maestri coached the Trojans to a record of 500–404, one NCAA basketball tournament, five regular season conference titles, and one conference tournament title over the course of 26 seasons at Troy. He has been named coach of the year in the East Coast Conference (1994), the Summit League (1997, then known as the Mid-Continent Conference), Atlantic Sun Conference (2000 and 2004) and the Sun Belt Conference (2009)
Maestri is famous for his run and gun style of basketball, which has led the Trojans to lead Division I NCAA basketball in three-pointers per game three consecutive seasons, from 2003 to 2006.[1] He also coached Troy to a 258–141 win over the DeVry Institute of Atlanta on January 12, 1992, which is the highest scoring basketball game in NCAA history.[2] Ironically, his emphasis on defensive pressure and a lock-down style of basketball pushed the Trojans to two Division II Final Fours in six years.[3]
Five different conferences have called Maestri its Coach of the Year, tying him with West Virginia's Bob Huggins for the most among active coaches.
He earned his 500th career win against Florida Atlantic in the Sun Belt Conference tournament in 2013. Maestri retired from the program on March 9, 2013.[4]