Neil Dougherty, a former head coach at TCU and assistant at Kansas, died while out on a run earlier this week in Indianapolis. He was 50.
Dougherty was working for iHoops, a joint venture between the NBA and NCAA to help promote youth basketball initiatives. He was in Indianapolis for a recruiting event and went jogging on Tuesday. He never returned and was listed as “John Doe” until he was identified on Friday.
“Serving the game he loved, Neil has been a driving force and true visionary in the path of building iHoops from its earliest days,” NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen said in a statement. “Neil’s commitment to assuring young people experience the joy and satisfaction of the game as he did will empower our focus going forward.”
Dougherty worked at Drake, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Kansas as an assistant from 1984 through 2002. He got his first head coaching job at TCU in 2002. He was fired after going 75-106 in six seasons with the Horned Frogs.
“Our basketball program is deeply saddened by the loss of Coach Dougherty, whose class and integrity were inspirational to all of us. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time,” current TCU coach Jim Christian said in a statement released by the university.
Funeral arrangements are pending, Shaheen said in the statement.
