One-time Pioneer Now an Osprey

In 1986-1987 Matt Driscoll, graduate of Northgate High School in Pittsburgh, put on the Pioneer uniform under the former legendary coaching and current top notch BC3 instructor Dick Hartung. Hartung's first impression of the Driscoll was not a positive one in which Hartung was quoted in calling Driscoll "cocky." It did not take long for Hartung and assistant coach and current Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Mr. Bill Miller to change their impression of the young player.

Driscoll was the starting point guard for the Pioneers that season and Mr. Hartung said, "In my 20 years of coaching very few loved the game like Driscoll." He went on to say that Driscoll was a very smart player and always looked to pass and involve his teammates before looking for his own. Hartung made note that Driscoll was a good teammate on and off the floor.

Driscoll's coaching career began right away; in 1988 he took the head coaching job at his alma mater Northgate High School. He served in that role until 1990 when he became one of the assistant coaches for the BC3 Pioneers and then after a season went on to be an assistant coach at Seneca Valley High School from 1991 to 1993. From 1993 to 1997 Driscoll served as the head coach at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh. Driscoll's experience also includes a stint as a volunteer assistant coach at Slippery Rock.

Driscoll's first stint as a Division 1 coach was the 1997–98 season when he was the assistant coach under Larry Shyatt at the University of Wyoming. After one season at University of Wyoming Coach Shyatt and Driscoll left the University of Wyoming and went to Clemson University. Driscoll was on the Clemson staff from 1998 to 2003 and during his time at the two programs he helped guide both Clemson and Wyoming to berths in the NIT.

Driscoll's time as a Clemson Tiger was a successful one; some of the highlights were winning the NIT championship game before losing to California by one point on the final possession. Driscoll also helped the Tigers get past powerhouse North Carolina three times in a five year period and one was an upset over the #1 ranked Tar Heels.

In 2004, Driscoll became the top assistant at Baylor University where he had spent the past six seasons. Baylor University Head Coach Scott Drew and Driscoll helped transform the Baylor Bears into Big 12 contenders and in 2007-08 NCAA Tournament which was Baylor's first appearance since 1988. Last season, Baylor came up one game shy of making a second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament after falling in the Big 12 Tournament Final to Missouri. Driscoll's last game at Baylor was a loss to Penn State in the 2009 NIT championship game.

Coach Driscoll accepted the Head Coaching job at the University of North Florida following the 2009 season. It will be the first year in which North Florida is eligible for the Division 1 NCAA Tournament. Driscoll and his staff are excited to turn the new D-1 program into a success.

Coach Driscoll made it clear what his plans are to turn the upstart program into a winning one, and he said, "Recruiting is that biggest matter at hand, we cannot take any days off recruiting because the future of the program relies on it."

Driscoll sees what he has at the UNF as a great start, and feels within a few years they could be the Gonzaga(which is a University that has made its way onto the college basketball scene just recently) of the Northeast.

Driscoll said one of the major things he has learned under former Coach Drew is in Driscoll's words, "The game is not just X's and O's, it's the Jimmies and Joes." Coach Driscoll is really trying to get the right guys into his program and feels like that's happening and that will really start putting the Ospreys of North Florida on the map.

The young Ospreys are off to a 1-5 start to the 2009-2010 season, suffering losses to programs such as University of Alabama and Notre Dame. Driscoll is very positive in saying he only has three seniors on this team and they are going to continue to get better, they lost a heartbreaker to Campbell University that Driscoll says would have really got things rolling.

Driscoll has never lost his loyalty to BC3 and say he watches tapes of his old Pioneer basketball days and says he sees things that he implies to the UNF team. Mr. Miller said that he knew Driscoll was going to turn out to be a coach someday. "He was such a high energy guy and knew that game so well." Hartung and Miller were clear in that his passion and love for the game made Driscoll a great person to be around. Mr. Miller gave Driscoll one of the highest complements in stating that he would be more than happy to have his sons play for Driscoll.