on march 16, 2015, donahue was named the 20th head coach in penn basketball history, replacing jerome allen. donahue served as an assistant coach for the quakers from 1990 to 2000. following donahue's hiring as head coach, mike krzyzewski, duke university and usa national team head coach, stated, “steve donahue is a terrific basketball coach, and is even more impressive off the court," adding, "this is truly an outstanding hire by the university of pennsylvania.” penn's 2017–18 team won the 2018 ivy league tournament qualifying for their 1st ncaa tournament since 2007. as the 16th seed for the midwest bracket of the 2018 ncaa tournament, they played number 1 seed kansas. the quakers jumped out to a 21–11 lead with 8:01 left in the 1st half. however, the jayhawks finished the half on a 22–5 run taking a 33–26 lead into half-time. the jayhawks never trailed again and outscored the quakers 43–34 in the 2nd half, causing the quakers to lose 60–76.