Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- totoole@athletics.pitt.edu
- Phone:
- 412-648-8350
Tim O’Toole enters his eighth season at Pitt as associate head coach. With 33 years of Division I coaching experience, including eight years as a head coach, his wealth of knowledge and passion has helped lead 11 teams to postseason play.
O’Toole’s impact has been felt immediately at Pitt as his tireless energy on the bench and on the recruiting trail have helped Jeff Capel rebuild and revitalize the Pitt program.
During the 2024-25 season, O’Toole helped the Panthers post their third consecutive winning season and was instrumental in the development of transfer Cameron Corhen. Corhen averaged 11.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game-while shooting a team-high 63.5 percent from the field. He ranked second in the ACC in field goal percentage among players with 4.0+ makes per game and posted the third highest single-season field goal percentage in program history.
O’Toole helped the center tandem of Federiko Federiko and Guillermo Diaz Graham continue to grow their games. The duo combined for 11.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, while adding 71 blocks and 44 steals in 2023-24. Diaz Graham delivered 6.7 points per game, while making 32 three-pointers on 40.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Federiko shot an efficient 63.7 percent from the field, while also ranking among the league leaders in blocks and offensive rebounds. Despite injuries depleting Pitt’s post rotations, the Panthers finished the year as one of the top rebounding teams in the ACC and was also the only team in the conference to have three players finish among the conference block shot leaders.
O’Toole oversaw the development and rapid growth of a young frontcourt that helped propel the Panthers to an NCAA Tournament bid in 2022-23. With its most experienced post player appearing in just eight games, Federiko and Guillermo Diaz Graham emerged as a potent center combo. Federiko developed into one of the top defensive centers in the ACC ranking third in the conference in blocks (1.66 bpg.), while also averaging 6.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He shot 66.7 percent (94-of-141) from the field to become just the fourth player (five times) in program history to shoot 60 percent or better from the field in a season. As a team, the Panthers closed the season ranked in the top four of the ACC in scoring defense (69.7 ppg.), field goal percentage defense (.420), three-point percentage defense (.327), rebounds (36.14 rpg.), and defensive rebounds (26.03 pg.).
During the 2021-22 campaign, sophomore John Hugley IV emerged as one of the top post players in the ACC under O’Toole tutelage. Hugley IV earned Honorable Mention All-ACC honors while ranking among the league leaders in scoring, rebounds, offensive rebounds, free throws made and free throw attempts. As a team, the Panthers ranked second in the ACC in opponent rebounds (31.1 rpg.) and fourth in rebound margin (+2.8 rpg.).
In 2020-21, with O’Toole guiding Pitt’s post play, the Panthers were one of the top rebounding teams in the ACC. Pitt finished second in the league in rebounds (38.3 rpg.), rebound margin (+5.18 rpg.), offensive rebounds (12.79 orpg.) and offensive rebounds percentage (.345). The Panthers primary post players combined to average 12.8 points and 10.9 rebounds
per game.
O’Toole mentored a post trio of Eric Hamilton, Terrell Brown and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly that combined to average 12.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. Brown ranked in the top 10 of the ACC in blocks for the second consecutive season.
O’Toole helped lead the development of Brown during the 2018-19 season as the 6-10 post averaged 12.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per 40 minutes of game action. Brown set a Pitt record with nine blocked shots in a win over Colgate and finished the year ranked in the top five of the ACC in blocks per game (1.8 bpg.).
Prior to coming to Pitt, O’Toole spent two seasons as associate head coach at Cal. In 2017-18, he was vital to the development of big man Marcus Lee, who averaged 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in his first season of eligibility at Cal.
In his first season in Berkeley, O’Toole helped guide Cal to the Pac-12’s best field goal defense and top scoring defense. He was crucial in the development of Cal’s frontcourt, including single-season blocks leader Kingsley Okoroh and Kameron Rooks as well as 2017 NBA second round
selection Ivan Rabb. His post player development along with expert zone defensive strategies helped bring Cal back to the postseason play.
From 2013-2016, O’Toole served as an assistant coach at Stanford where his strength in player development helped Chasson Randle, Anthony Brown, Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell reach the NBA. In addition, his work helped key Stanford’s 2014 Sweet 16 run and carry the Cardinal to the 2015 NIT Championship.
O’Toole’s infectious energy, enthusiasm and expert instruction also aided in the player recruitment and development of McDonald’s All-American Reid Travis, Michael Humphrey, and Josh Sharma, who continue their play in Europe.
O’Toole, who prides himself on player and team success, has established a reputation as a strong in-game tactician. He has coached alongside two of the winningest coaches in NCAA history in NABC College Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim.
After a six-year stint as an ESPN, SNY and IMG analyst and color commentator, O’Toole re-entered the coaching realm with a second term at Syracuse for the 2012-13 season, helping the Orange to the 2013 Final Four.
O’Toole first served on the Orange staff in 1991-1995 as an assistant coach. During his initial tenure, Syracuse appeared in three NCAA Tournaments and captured the 1992 Big East Championship. In his combined five years of coaching at Syracuse he worked with many basketball standouts including John Wallace, Lawrence Moten, Dave Johnson, Michael Carter Williams, Jerami Grant, Rakeem Christmas, CJ Fair, and James Southerland all of whom continued on to play in the NBA or overseas.
O’Toole also possesses head coaching experience, spending eight seasons (1998-2006) at the helm of his alma mater, Fairfield. He led the Stags to three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1978, earned an NIT berth in 2003, and guided numerous players to post graduate play. O’Toole was honored as the 2003-04 MAAC Coach of the Year and enjoyed the best recruiting classes in school history.
Prior to taking over as head coach at Fairfield, O’Toole spent the 1997-98 season as an assistant coach under Tommy Amaker at Seton Hall. He helped guide the Pirates to a third place finish in the Big East and an NIT bid.
O’Toole also spent two years at Duke as an assistant coach to Krzyzewski, coaching Jeff Capel, as well as bringing in the number one recruiting class in the country with Elton Brand, Shane Battier, William Avery, and Chris Burgess. He helped lead the Blue Devils to the 1997 ACC title, while working alongside coaches Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz and Amaker now
at Harvard.
A native of White Plans, N.Y., O’Toole’s coaching career began with stops as an assistant coach at Iona (1990-91) and Army (1989-90) after serving as a graduate assistant at Fordham University from 1987-89.
O’Toole earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Fairfield in 1987 and his MBA in finance from Fordham in 1990. Both degrees were put to use in financial planning as Managing Director for Look Capital, an investment management company, as President of Allied Effort, a motivational consulting company, and as an adjunct professor at
Fordham’s Graduate School of Business teaching management, leadership, and sales courses.
Honored as the Fairfield Male Athlete of the Year in 1987, O’Toole was a four-year letterwinner in basketball, leading the Stags to a pair of MAAC championship titles and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. He also competed for the lacrosse team going undefeated in 1987.
O’Toole has received numerous honors and awards including CT Multiple Sclerosis 2005 Person of the Year. In 2004, he was inducted into the Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame and he was a 2008 inductee into the Archbishop Stepinac High School Hall of Fame. In 2017, O’Toole was inducted into the Fairfield Hall of Fame.
O’Toole and his wife, Joanie, have three children: Collin, Jameson and Christine.
