David McKinley

David McKinley was hired as Director of Player Development by head coach Lamont Paris on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. He was promoted to assistant coach in 2023-24. McKinley joined the Gamecocks after spending five seasons on Paris’ staff at Chattanooga, including three seasons there (2019-22) as an assistant coach. He enters his fifth season with the Gamecocks in 2026-27.

Through four seasons on the staff at Carolina, Bronson has helped guide South Carolina to a 62-68 record and is a key piece in the Gamecocks’ offense. Bronson was instrumental in aiding Collin Murray-Boyles to one of the best individual seasons by a Gamecock in recent memory. The local product from Columbia averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game en route to being named Second Team All-SEC. In Power Five leagues (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten & SEC), Murray-Boyles and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson were the only players to average at least 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting above 50.0% from the floor. He was selected ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2025 NBA Draft, becoming the first lottery pick (top-14 selection) in program history in the modern draft era (lottery started in 1985).

The team’s 2025 recruiting class, headlined by consensus four-star prospect Eli Ellis (Hickory, N.C.), featured five players total and was the first top-25 signing class at South Carolina in the Paris era.

In year two (2023-24) at South Carolina, Bronson was part of a staff that helped orchestrate the greatest single-season turnaround in program history, finishing the season 26-8 and returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. The 26 victories tied the 2016-17 Final Four team for the most single-season wins in program history. The team’s 25 regular season wins were a new program record. The Gamecocks went 13-5 in SEC play, good for a T-2^nd finish in the league. The 13 SEC wins tied the 1997 SEC title team for the most SEC wins in program history (Carolina joined the league in 1991-92).

In his first season (2022-23), South Carolina had an overhauled roster with eight new players, including just 14.9 percent of the team’s scoring and 18.4 percent of the minutes played returning from the season prior. The Gamecocks defeated Clemson at home, 60-58, for the first time since Dec. 19, 2014 as Chico Carter Jr. hit the game-winning bucket with 0.9 seconds remaining. The conference slate was highlighted by road wins at Kentucky, at Ole Miss and at LSU. The Gamecocks wire-to-wire victory at Rupp Arena on Jan. 10 was the team’s first there since 2009 and just the program’s third all-time win in Lexington since joining the SEC (1992).

The staff made early in-roads recruiting over the summer in 2022 with local product Gregory “GG” Jackson II reclassifying and enrolling early. The consensus top player in the 2023 class, Jackson was the highest rated signee in program history (recruit rankings started in early 2000s) and joined PJ Dozier (2015-17) as the only five-star Gamecock freshmen. Jackson would go on to earn All-SEC Freshman honors while leading the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He had 11 20-point games, the most by a Carolina freshman since joining the SEC in 1991-92. Jackson would go on to be selected 45^th overall by the Memphis Grizzles in the 2023 NBA Draft, becoming the first NBA Draft pick for the program since All-American Sindarius Thornwell in 2017.

McKinley played collegiately at Ohio University where he was a four-year letterwinner from 2009-13. He was a team captain his last two seasons and was a member of the 2012 Bobcats squad that won a school record 29 games. The team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling in overtime to North Carolina.

After graduation, McKinley served as a graduate assistant at Ohio from 2014-16. He then worked as video coordinator at Wright State for one season in 2016-17. He was assistant to the head coach in Paris’ first season at Chattanooga in 2017-18. McKinley then served as director of operations in 2018-19 before being promoted to assistant coach the last three seasons, during which the Mocs posted a 65-29 record and won the 2022 Southern Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships. A native of Dublin, Ohio, McKinley has undergraduate (’13) and graduate degrees (’16) from Ohio.

McKinley and his wife Kelsey, married in 2013, have two daughters, Quinn and Leighton.