| Desmond Oliver | |
| Current Title: | Assistant Coach |
| Current Team: | South Florida |
| Current Conference: | The American |
| Birth Date: | 4 December 1969 |
| Birth Place: | Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1988–1989 |
| Player Team1: | Genesee CC |
| Player Years2: | 1989–1992 |
| Player Team2: | Dominican (NY) |
| Coach Years1: | 1994–1997 |
| Coach Team1: | Niagara (assistant) |
| Coach Years2: | 1997–1998 |
| Coach Team2: | Texas A&M (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 1998–2000 |
| Coach Team3: | Cornell (assistant) |
| Coach Years4: | 2000–2001 |
| Coach Team4: | St. Bonaventure (assistant) |
| Coach Years5: | 2001–2004 |
| Coach Team5: | Rhode Island (assistant) |
| Coach Years6: | 2004–2009 |
| Coach Team6: | Georgia (assistant) |
| Coach Years7: | 2009–2010 |
| Coach Team7: | Canisius (assistant) |
| Coach Years8: | 2010–2015 |
| Coach Team8: | Charlotte (assistant) |
| Coach Years9: | 2015–2021 |
| Coach Team9: | Tennessee (assistant) |
| Coach Years10: | 2021–2023 |
| Coach Team10: | East Tennessee State |
| Coach Years11: | 2023–present |
| Coach Team11: | South Florida (assistant) |
Desmond L. Oliver (born December 4, 1969) is an American college basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the South Florida Bulls.
Oliver played collegiately for one season at Genesee Community College under Bill Van Gundy, the father of Jeff and Stan, before transferring to Dominican College in New York, where he served as a team captain.[1]
In 1994, Oliver began his college coaching career as an assistant at Niagara where he stayed until 1997 before taking an assistant coaching position under Tony Barone at Texas A&M.[2] Oliver would return to New York with stops at Cornell and St. Bonaventure before joining Bonnies' head coach Jim Baron at Rhode Island where he'd stay as an assistant from 2001 to 2004.[2] [3] From 2004 to 2009, Oliver was an assistant under Dennis Felton at Georgia and the Bulldogs' 11th place squad that won the 2008 SEC tournament title and the auto bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament.
After his time at Georgia, Oliver briefly served as an assistant coach at Canisius before a five-year stint as an assistant at Charlotte.[4] [5] In 2015, Oliver moved on to Tennessee to join Rick Barnes, where he would earn a reputation as one of the top recruiters in college basketball.[6] While with the Volunteers, Oliver was on staff for a SEC regular season title in 2017–18 and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2019.[2]
On April 5, 2021 Oliver was named the 18th head coach in East Tennessee State basketball history.[7] In his first season at ETSU, Oliver led a young Buccaneer team to a 15-17 record, which was highlighted by winning the inaugural Naples Invitational.[8] The Buccaneers went 12-20 in Oliver's second season, where nine of the losses were decided by 4 points or less. After two seasons, Oliver was dismissed from East Tennessee State on March 10, 2023.[9]
In May 2023, Oliver was named as an assistant coach at the University of South Florida.[10]