In this inspiring interview, Brett Gunning shares his journey from elite basketball coaching to founding ‘On The Right Path,’ a nonprofit dedicated to using sports as a vehicle for teaching life skills and faith to youth. Discover how early character development, faith, and intentional coaching can shape the next generation.

Related resources: On the Right Path | The book series | Game on Game Foundation | Game on Game book

Brett Gunning came to Hofstra in 1994 from UNLV as a member of the incoming coaching staff under Hofstra Head Coach Jay Wright. During Gunning’s time as an assistant coach, Hofstra improved from a 10-win program in 1994-95 to back-to-back NCAA Tournament qualifiers and America East Conference champions in 1999-00, and 2000-01.

Hofstra went 103-85 during his tenure, including a record of 72-22 from 1998 to 2001 that saw the Pride make three straight postseason basketball appearances, including those back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. Gunning coached Hofstra basketball legends such as Norman Richardson, Jay Hernandez, Roberto Gittens and current Hofstra men’s basketball assistant coach Speedy Claxton.

Following the 2000-01 season, Gunning left Hempstead to become an assistant coach under Jay Wright at Villanova University, where he has strong family ties dating back to his great uncle, who was an Augustinian priest. As a part of Wright’s Villanova staff from 2001 to 2008, the Wildcats played postseason basketball in all seven seasons, including four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-05 to 2007-08. Gunning was eventually elevated to the position of associate head coach in 2005.

After seven years with Villanova, Gunning was hired as the director of player development with the Houston Rockets in 2008 and he was later named an assistant coach from 2011 to 2012. Gunning would later spend three seasons as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic until he returned to the Rockets for the 2015-16 season. He would spend another five seasons with the Rockets before stepping away from coaching following the 2019-20 NBA season. During his time in Houston, the Rockets would make the NBA Playoffs six times, including a run to the NBA Western Conference Finals in the 2017-18 season.

In 2020, Gunning launched On The Right Path, a non-profit organization whose mission is to guide inner-city youth on the right path to achieving their maximum potential through education, mentorship, and basketball skill development. With author Stacy Padula, Gunning is working on a children’s book series based on the principles of On The Right Path.

Gunning is married and is the father of three children.