Bill O'Connor is in his 21st season as the head coach of the Rockhurst Hawks. He has been coaching basketball on the high school, junior college and college level for the past 41 years.
O'Connor is the winningest coach in the history of Rockhurst basketball with 265 victories. Eight of his teams have qualified for postseason play, while 11 of his teams at Rockhurst have won 15 or more games in a season.
The Hawks earned their third trip to the NCAA Division II Championship in 2008-09 under O'Connor, who was named the GLVC Coach of the Year. Rockhurst finished second in the GLVC West and 19-11 overall.
Rockhurst finished 17-12 and advanced to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in 2006-07. In 2001-02, O'Connor guided the Hawks to a 24-6 record and into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II Championship.
Rockhurst came within one game of earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship in 2004-05. The Hawks reached the finals of the Heartland Conference Tournament at St. Mary's (Texas). O’Connor was named the Coach of the Year in the Heartland Conference in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
A graduate of Rockhurst High School, O'Connor received a B.S. in history from St. Benedict's College (now Benedictine College) in 1972. He earned his master's in education from Emporia State University.
O'Connor runs a year-round program for Kansas City area youth, including camps, clinics and leagues.
Before being named the head coach at Rockhurst in 1994, O'Connor was the head coach at Colby (Kan.) Community College. He was an assistant coach at Rockhurst from 1982-86 and coached at Texas-Pan American. He also served as a coach on the high school level for 10 years in the Kansas City area.
O'Connor and his wife, Elaine, live in Kansas City, Mo. They have four children: Trish, Chris, Anna and Caitlin.
