Meet Billy Donlon
Experience: Fourth season
College: UNC Wilmington, ’99
Career record: 55-46 (27-25 Horizon League)
2013-14 Season Outlook
-Coming off an appearance in the championship game of 2013 Horizon League Tournament, the Preseason Poll tabbed the Raiders second in the nine team Horizon League.
-Finished the 2012-13 season with a record of 23-13 (10-6 Horizon League). Wright State participated in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and advanced to the Semifinals before being knocked off by Santa Clara, 81-69.
Career Background
-Donlon was named the programs eighth coach on April 14, 2010.
-Served as the Raiders' associate head coach the prior four seasons (2006-10).
-Named the 2013 Horizon League Coach of the Year. Wright State took No. 1 seed Valparaiso to the wire in the championship game, ultimately losing 62-54.
-The 23 wins during the 2012-13 season tied the school-record for wins in a season.
-Named a finalist for the 2013 Skip Prosser Man of the Year and the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year awarded anually to the nation’s top Mid-Major coach.
-Before coming to Wright State, Donlon served as an assistan coach at American (1999-2000), St. Peters (2000-01) and UNC Wilmington (2001-06).
Wright State was predicted to finish last-place in last season's Horizon League Preseason Poll. By seasons end the Raiders were in the championship game of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Tournament. What does that say about your team and league from last year?
I think our league is very difficult to predict, there’s so many good coaches and players. Our goal every year is to win the league and put us in a position to play in the NCAA Tournament. With four minutes to go we had a six point lead, that’s a hard thing to swallow. Hopefully it motivates us moving forward.
It’s difficult to say—what if? What if Wright State holds on to that six-point lead with four minutes to go? Did you find yourself reflecting on the last four minutes of last season's championship game?
For me, I’ve had the good fortune of playing or coaching in a lot of championship games. You don’t know how many more opportunities you’ll get; whether you’re picked first, not picked first. We were 40 minutes away from an NCAA Tournament and you’re not guaranteed that a year from now, two years from now. For me it’s very, very tough to have dealt with.
On paper, the entire nucleus from last year’s squad returns for Wright State, how exciting is that?
It’s really exciting; we have really good players that I think people haven’t given enough credit to. Cole Darling deserves every ounce of notoriety that he gets. But we have other good guys on our team Jerran Young, Miles Dixon, AJ Pacher, Matt Vest, Reggie Arceneaux. They are a lot of good guys here and I enjoy being with them every day. They have a great zest for life and keep me young.
How much stock are you taking in your team’s prediction to finish in second place in the league?
You can’t. The league is too good. Someone who was picked seven to nine will do a lot better than projected. If you look at the last two years and how many games have went down to the last minute, those are games that could have gone either way. Of all the conference games that are played say 85% of them go down to the last minute, last year’s team won a lot of those games and that’s why we had the season we had. If we don’t do that this year, we won’t win the league.
You were named the Coach of the Year in the Horizon League last season. What does that say about yourself and the coaching staff you've put in place at Wright State?
When you’re picked last and you do well, it’s just kind of what happens. I don’t know if I’m a better coach before I won the award versus after I won the award. But you win the award because of your staff, I have a great staff. Chris Moore, Brendan Mullins, my dad (Billy Donlon, Sr.), DJ Wyrick and Troy Tabler. They’re phenomenal coaches; we have great support from the top in President (David) Hopkins and Bob Grant our athletics director. But we have really good players and when you have really good players you’re probably going to win a few awards because you’re going to win a few games.
Your father Bill Donlon, Sr. was an assistant coach at Providence (1982-87) and Northwestern (1987-94). He's also been a high school basketball coach and most recently served as the dean of students at Lake Forest High School outside Chicago. Last season you pegged him as the Raiders' director of basketball operations. How special was it to bring your father on-board?
I always wanted to have the opportunity of having my dad with us. It really didn’t present itself until last year when I had an assistant leave late and I was really lucky Bob Grant and the administration signed off on it. It’s been a phenomenal experience. He’s been dealing with 16-22 year olds for 35 years. His experience, you can’t put a price on. He grew up in New York City, he’s dealt with inner-city youth, he’s dealt with suburban youth. He has a great pulse for things and is great for the other guys on staff.
You had a very successful basketball career at UNC Wilmington and went on to play professionally in France and Germany. Do you believe coaches likes yourself who played basketball at a high level can relate to their student-athlete's better?
I was fortune to be a young head coach, and I guess I still am, but you age like dog years when you’re a head coach so I feel like I’m 21 years older now. I do think that as you’re younger you can relate better. With that said, no matter the age difference people want to feel like the person they’re with cares about them and their opinion matters. Having played the game and having gone through the tough practices, two-a-days, six-hour bus rides, getting home at 4:00 a.m. and knowing you better get to that 8:00 a.m. class because you know your coach is going to check. I think I can relate to that pretty well.
Six of the nine Horizon League teams last year posted a winning record. Do you see the League being strong again top to bottom?
I think the League will be very good and with the addition of Oakland, Greg (Kampe) is a very good coach and has a good program. Youngstown State is coming off one of their best seasons in their program’s history. They bring back Kendrick Perry who is as good as a player as you’ll find. Obviously Green Bay. Cleveland State had the injury bug with Anton Grady out all of conference play a year ago. I think UIC will be very good with some experienced players in Hayden Humes and Kelsey Barlow, the transfer from Purdue. Rob Jeter at Milwaukee had a down year but don’t ever bet against Rob and his program, he’s done significant things as a coach. So do I expect the league to be good? Yes I think the league is going to be really good.
You have a presence on Twitter (@CoachDonlon), what’s the best thing you've discovered about Twitter?
I think the best coaches adapt and I think it’s important to recruiting and connecting to your fans to be on Twitter. There are some great, incredible articles in general about life, education, our Country and basketball that people post on Twitter. If you don’t want to say a single thing on Twitter, don’t. But get an account and start following different people and businesses because you’ll read some incredible things.
Off the court, what do you enjoy doing?
I’m a sports junkie; I eat too much pizza and ice cream. My big weakness is I have a beautiful eight-year old daughter who is an incredible young girl. She has me wrapped around my finger, so when I can I’m spending time with her and that’s my most important responsibility. I’ve been really blessed in my life with the people I’ve been able to be around.
