Coach Donoher did a lot for basketball, the University, and the City
I played in the UD basketball pep band my senior year of high school at Centerville in 1966-67. It all started when the UD band director realized he had five home games over the holidays with about half a band left on campus. He asked one of his band members from C’Ville to recruit a few of us Seniors to play. We apparently did well enough that he offered to let us stay on for the rest of the season. That year was the magical season when the Flyers made their deepest run ever and lost to UCLA in the NCAA championship game. Don would stop by and thank us for being there on his way into games. He was a class act! RIP
I know this thread is about the passing of a great UD coach, but I think he’d be ok with me going on a tangent. Dayton got me thinking: In terms of basketball success, people intuitively think the ACC has a lock great teams in close proximity to each other between Duke UNC, NC State and Wake, but I’d argue Ohio has been right up there. UC, OSU and Dayton have all been to the national championship and as a state Ohio has 3 wins. Add in Xavier, and we have four schools who have won the NIT. Expand the area and you have Kent who went to an elite 8 and I think at least 8 teams in the state have been to the sweet 16. I find that pretty amazing. Anyhow, sorry to hear the news. What a talent he was.
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Went to the same church growing up and I was a huge UD hoops fan back then. He was an assistant on the 1984 Olympic team; quite possibly the best amateur basketball team ever assembled. RIP coach.
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I believe in 1984 or thereabouts Dayton lost to Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown deep in the tourney. UD had a player that I had coached in high school. He had some interesting coaching stories
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It was the Elite Eight game in ‘84. Michael Graham, not Ewing, is who the Flyers couldn’t contain.
Remember the players name you coached?
I was the assistant coach at Oak Harbor through Dan Christie’s junior year. I did drive him and his dad to Oxford for his recruiting visit.
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I (vaguely) remember a short interview with him in the late 70s. We lost two close games to them that season, even though it was not one of their best teams. We were lousy too.
Anyhow, we talked a little bit about Jim Rhoden, a local kid that Miami badly wanted but UD had earlier signed.
Remember him well. Solid guard, wore #14 iirc. Was his father his high school coach?
Yep
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He beat Frosty back in '85, and 2 years later Frosty was dead. Good coach.