David Muchnick was added to the New York University men's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach in May 2019.
NYU did not compete in 2020-21 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Violets still earned the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award for the second consecutive year, three players were selected to the NABC Honors Court and four Violets received University Athletic Association (UAA) Winter Sport All-Academic honors.
In Muchnick’s first season, the Violets posted an 8-17 overall record and a 1-13 mark in the UAA. The team’s season-high five-game winning streak included the NYU Tip-Off Tournament title, which the Violets earned with an 86-82 overtime victory against Western New England University.
Individually, Ethan Feldman earned Second Team All-UAA honors and was selected Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Honorable Mention. Jimmy Martinelli was chosen Most Valuable Player of the NYU Tip-Off Tournament.
Muchnick, who has a wealth of Division III coaching experience, joined NYU after two seasons as an assistant coach at John Jay College. While there, he was involved with all day-to-day operations of the program as well as coordinating the team's culture-building activities, community service projects, oversight of opposition scouting, and academic achievement.
Prior to his time with the Bloodhounds, Muchnick served as head coach at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, ME, for three seasons (2014-17). In his tenure rebuilding the program, he led the Mariners to their best conference record since 2010-11, recruited and developed three of the top-10 scorers in school history and recorded the program’s best one-season three-point shooting percentage (.372) in 2016-17.
Muchnick also coached at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, for four years (2010-14). He began as the program's top assistant for the first three-and-a-half years and was responsible for the largest recruiting class in Mariner history, bringing in 10 freshmen from nine different states in 2012. Muchnick assumed the head coaching position in January 2014 and the Mariners compiled a 6-6 record the remainder of the season and advanced to the Landmark Conference semifinals. At the end of the campaign, he received the Merchant Marine Academy’s Dr. Stephen “Bill” Omeltchenko Coach of the Year Award.
Muchnick began his coaching career as an assistant at SUNY Cortland from 2005-08 and helped the Red Dragons to a 55-29 record. The 2005-06 season was highlighted by an NCAA Division III Tournament Second-Round appearance, a SUNYAC Regular Season Championship and recognition as SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year. He then went on a two-year run as an assistant coach at Denison University in Granville, OH, from 2008-10.
A 2005 graduate of SUNY Geneseo with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications, Muchnick played four seasons of basketball for the Knights, helped earn an ECAC Championship in 2003-04 and served as a co-captain his senior season. He went on to earn a Master of Science degree in sports management from SUNY Cortland in 2009.
A native of Oceanside, NY, Muchnick resides in Long Island City, NY.
