Maurice Kearney completed his third season as SUNY Cortland's men's basketball head coach in the 2025-26 season. He has a career record of 56-29 (.659) in three seasons in charge, and has led the team to two conference championship and two NCAA Div. III playoff berths.
Kearney's 2025-26 Cortland team matched the program record for victories in a season, finishing the year with a 24-5 overall record. The Red Dragons won the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) regular-season title with a 17-1 league mark, and claimed a second consecutive conference tournament title for the first time in program history after an 84-51 victory over Oswego in the championship game. Cortland advanced to the second round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs following a first-round win over Franklin and Marshall, and ended the season tied for 17th nationally.
Kearney was honored as the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Division III Coach of the Year, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 3 Coach of the Year, and the D3hoops.com Region 3 Men's Basketball Coach of the Year, and he and his assistants were chosen as the SUNYAC Men's Basketball Coaching Staff of the Year.
The 2024-25 season saw Kearney lead Cortland to a 17-12 record and its first SUNYAC title since 2016. The Red Dragons were third in the SUNYAC regular season with a 13-5 conference record, and knocked off Oneonta, 73-55 in the first round, Oswego, 74-65 in the semifinals, and New Paltz, 61-52 in the finals to claim their eighth conference championship in history. Cortland advanced to the first round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs and finished tied for 33rd nationally.
In his first season at the helm in 2023-24 he guided the Red Dragons to a 15-12 mark, including a 9-4 mark over the season's final 13 games. The team advanced to the SUNYAC tournament semifinals.
Kearney is a former Cortland men's basketball player and coaching staff member. In his four-season playing career at Cortland from 2010-14, Kearney played in 82 games, 51 as a starter, and served as a team captain during his sophomore and senior seasons. He was an assistant coach under Tom Spanbauer for four years from 2014-18, followed by four years as the program's associate head coach from 2018-22.
During the 2022-23 season, Kearney was a men's basketball assistant coach at New York University, where he helped the Violets earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs.
Kearney assisted in all facets of the program while coaching at Cortland, including recruiting, on-court instruction, scouting, budgeting and compliance. After being promoted to associate head coach, Kearney took on the role of recruiting coordinator and became heavily involved in player development and fundraising. Among the players he recruited was two-time All-American and SUNYAC Player of the Year and Cortland's career scoring and rebounding leader Austin Grunder.
During Kearney's Cortland coaching career, the Red Dragons averaged more than 17 wins per season, including a 21-8 campaign in 2015-16 that featured a SUNYAC title and advancement to the NCAA second round. As a player, Kearney was a member of the 2012-13 squad that went 24-5, won a SUNYAC crown and advanced to the NCAA second round, as well as the 2011-12 team that finished 22-7 and won an ECAC Upstate New York title.
Kearney also worked as an admissions advisor at Cortland from 2015-20 and was promoted to senior admissions advisor at the start of 2020. Within the admissions office, he reviewed and processed freshman applications in a database of 12,000 applicants and followed the school's criteria to make admissions decisions. As a senior admissions advisor, he also served as a liaison to the athletics department, led the Educational Opportunity Program, assisted with the marketing and communications of the office and managed more than 100 partnerships with secondary schools and community organizations in the region.
A native of Uniondale, N.Y., Kearney received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Cortland in May 2015 and a master's degree in health education in 2019. He played three seasons of basketball and football at Uniondale High School.
Kearney and his wife, Lindsey - a former Cortland women's basketball player and assistant coach - have a son, MJ, who was born in April 2023.
updated 7/10/2026
